


Thedas in Chaos

by FanfictionNerd456



Series: The Heroes of the new Age [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dark Past, Depression, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, F/M, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love Lavellan, Please Don't Kill Me, Plot Twists, Sexual Content, Suicidal Thoughts, Thanks for 200 hits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 23:32:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 60,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16544429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanfictionNerd456/pseuds/FanfictionNerd456
Summary: My retelling of Dragon Age Inquisition. Prequel to the Final Chapter. Kudos if you like it. Comment suggestions and thoughts.





	1. The Breach

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He heard the water dripping before he could open his eyes.

Pain flowed throughout his body. For some reason, it started at his hands. Then it coursed through his torso, his head, and finally his legs.

He opened his eyes to examine his surroundings. He was in a dungeon, with barely any light. There were two guards standing in front of him. Both were clad in Templar armor, and were glaring at him. *Sheesh* Max thought. *Did I do something that bad?*

Suddenly, the door opened, letting in unwelcome and painful light. Max shielded his eyes as two figures emerged.

As Max slowly edged his hands away, he could examine them closer. One was a tall woman with cropped up hair and the armor of a Seeker. She looked like the person who could menacingly kill you and fight to the death just fine, but couldn’t start a conversation or talk to normal people. The other lady had short red hair covered by a hood, and wearing a purple dress with chain mail over it. She looked like the person who could silently kill you with five knives in your back while still looking extremely pretty and seductive. 

The two women examined the man on the floor. Leliana, being the person she was, looked past the physical and into the mental aspect of this man. She interpreted the smile he offered them as kindness, as a sign of caring. He had short spiky, much like Alistair, and a small stubble, with blue eyes and a well muscled body. She had noticed his calloused, which meant that he had either had to be a fighter or a farmer. And this man did not have the meekness of a farmer.

The Seeker, however, saw the weakness in this man. She took his smile as conspiratorial, as him planning to backstab them later on. Sure, he had a lot of muscles and calloused hands, but that could also mean he was a common brute, nothing more than a gangster terrorizing the populace.

“Looks like I already have admirers. Here I am, awake for a few minutes and I’ve already got women trailing after me,” Max said as Leliana smiled and the Seeker went to slap him.

She stopped herself, and asked him. “Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you right now?”

“A lot of reasons. One, I want to live. Two, I want to live. Three, I’d like to not die.”

“The Conclave is destroyed. The Divine dead. Everybody dead. Everybody except you.”

“What! You think I did it? Lady, I’ll have you know, I’ve done some bad things, but nothing as bad as murder!”

“If so, how can you explain this?” The Seeker asked as she held his left hand up. There was a green cut running through his palm. *That’s where the pain’s from*.

“I can’t. I don’t remember when I got it or how.”

“You’re lying!” The Seeker yelled as she grabbed him by his neck.

Max choked as Leliana yelled at Cassandra to let him go.

“Do you remember, what happened before this?” She asked.

“Actually, something’s coming back. I was running. In this eerie but strangely beautiful landscape. Then spiders started chasing after me. Then a woman.”

“A woman?”

“Yes, a woman. She yelled at me to come up and save myself,” Max said, as he suddenly frowned. “Damn. All those people. Dead?”

“Head to the forward camp, Leliana. We’ll meet there after I take him to a rift.” Cassandra said as Leliana nodded and headed out.

“If I may ask, what happened?”

“Come outside and see,” Cassandra replied as she helped Max up and dragged him outside.

The most notable thing outside was this giant gaping hole in the sky. It had green stuff coming out of it, presumably spirits, that looked maliciously menacing.

“Oh. Why does that look like the lower region…”

“Shut up.” Cassandra cut him off as she started to explain what it was.

“We call it the breach. It’s the gateway between the Fade and the real world.  It's not the only such rift, just the largest. It grows with each passing hour and if we don't stop it now, it will swallow the world."

"Lovely."

Maxwell cried out in pain as the Breach ruptured and the mark on his hand flared up. He fell to his knees, cursing.

Cassandra knelt before him. "With each rupture, your mark spreads. And it is killing you. You may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time."

Maxwell groaned. He looked back up at the Breach in all its terrifying splendor. If what she said was true, this thing could destroy the world and kill millions upon millions of innocents. And he wasn't about to let that happen.

He breathed deeply. "I understand."

Cassandra looked genuinely surprised. "You mean?"

"I'll help stop this... Whatever it takes."

She helped him back up and led him through a small village. The townsfolk glowered at him and spat as he walked by. Some even had a murderous look in their eyes. Cassandra noticed him looking at the angry crowds. "They have decided your guilt. They need it."

Maxwell gave a half hearted chuckle. "I don't care if they need it. It's making me nervous."

"The people of Haven mourn Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was a chance for peace between the mages and Templars. She brought their leaders together. Now they are dead."

“Damn,” Max said as they approached the icy bridge. Max could see Cassandra visibly shiver, and laughed on the inside. *What good is it to be in a military force when you can’t even bear the cold?* he thought as he walked. Suddenly, memories flew back. Memories of her dying. Memories of them shunning him, and kicking him out. Memories of him spending night after night in the cold, begging for food and a job. *No,* Max thought. *Not this again.*

Suddenly, Max saw one of the balls of energy spewing from the Breach speeding toward them. He grabbed the Seeker and dove to the side as the ball exploded upon impact, causing the bridge to crumble beneath them. They both fell several feet onto a frozen river. Max grunted as he hit the ground. He looked up with just enough time to roll to the side as another ball fell. As he watched, some creature emerged from the ball of energy. "The hell?" He said before the creature lunged at him with long claws intended to slice his chest open. The blow never came.

Cassandra, who had recovered from the fall before he had, brought her sword through the creatures chest. The thing howled then slowly disintegrated into a small pile of ash that the wind soon disrupted.

"Stay behind me!" She shouted as she surged forward towards two more of the creatures. Max stood up and momentarily fought the urge to escape. In the end, he decided against it. The Seeker had just saved his life. He wasn't going to leave her to fend these things on her own. Besides, he had said he would help close the giant hole in the sky. And he always at least try's to keep his promises.

He looked down. A sword lay at his feet. Not his preferred weapon of choice but it would do. He picked it up just in time to party one of the creature's lunge. He jumped back as it lunged once more then he dove forward and stuck the blade into its chest. It fell.

He looked over at the Seeker and saw one of the creatures creeping up behind her. He did the only sensible thing to do: he threw the sword at it. Cassandra was blocking one of the creatures when something whizzed by her face. She killed the creature in front of her then spun around only to see a creature, its arm still outstretched towards her throat, with a sword lodged in its neck. She turned back to the prisoner. He had just risked her life to save it. And that outraged her.

"Drop your weapon! Now! And what were you trying to do, slice my head off?" She shouted at him. The prisoner just smiled and said, "I believe I was saving your life. As for the weapon: fine. Have it your way."

Cassandra growled. "Wait." She sheathed her sword and strapped her shield to her back. "I cannot protect you. And I cannot expect you to be defenseless. I should remember that you agreed to come willingly."

"See? You can be well mannered after all." The prisoner said with a smug face.

She scowled. The prisoner was beginning to get on her nerves.

The two made their way along the riverbed before coming to some stairs. As they climbed, Max could hear shouting of in the distance.

"You can hear the fighting off in the distance." Cassandra said.

*Brilliant deduction there.*

"Who's fighting?"

"You'll see soon enough. We must help them!"

She picked up the pace and Max followed.

The reached the top to see two people fighting off several of the creatures which Cassandra had told him were demons called Shades.

Cassandra charged into the fray, sword flashing. Max charged in after her. The two people they were rushing to help out was a bald elf with oddly tall ears and a beardless dwarf carrying a weird looking crossbow. *Wait a minute, is that who I think it is?* Max thought. Arcs of electricity shot out from the tip of the elf's staff and practically vaporized any shade unlucky to get hit. 

Maxwell only had enough time to kill one of the demons before the elf grabbed his left hand and thrusted it towards the rift. Green energy surged from his hand to the rift. Max felt a slight tingling feeling as the rift closed. What remaining demons immediately died.

"What just happened?"Max asked.

The elf answered him. "I theorized that your mark could close the rifts. And it seems I was correct."

"Guess that's one good thing about this thing."

The elf grinned coyly. "It seems you are the key to stopping this."

Max sighed. "Aren't I just the luckiest guy alive then."

Chuckling, the dwarf said, "Good to know. And here I thought we'd be ass deep in demons forever.", as he pulled a trigger causing the crossbow to fold in on itself.

“Varric Tethras. You fucking bastard.” Max said with a smile.

Varric was surprised. “Maxwell Trevelyan. Is it really you?”

“In the flesh.”

Max and Varric went up to each other and gave a firm handshake. And then started dying of laughter.

“What brought you here?” Varric asked.

“Same reason as you, I reckon,” Max replied as Varric nodded.

“The Seeker wants to know where Hawke and Merrill are. Truthfully, I have no clue. And neither do you, I’m assuming?”

“Nope. Hawke didn’t leave behind anything to say where he is.”

“Alright then. Let’s go,” Varric said.

Cassandra interjected. "Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated Varric but-."

Varric interrupted her. "Have you been in the Valley lately Seeker? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Unfortunately."

Max decided to change the subject. A very tactical idea he thought.

"So what have you thought of the weather lately?"

Varric and the elf laughed. Cassandra rolled her eyes. 

The elf nodded and said, "My name is Solas if there are to be introductions. I am pleased to see you still live." 

"He means 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.'"

"You seem to know a great deal about it all."

"Solas is an apostate, well versed in such matters." Cassandra said.

Solas shrugged. "Technically all mages are apostates now, Cassandra. Yet you should know: your prisoner is no Mage but I find it difficult to imagine anyone with such power that he has shown."

Cassandra nodded. "Noted. Now come. We must reach the next barricade." She turned and led the way down to a lake. Max caught Varric's eye and shrugged.

They followed Cassandra and Solas.

Fighting their way through demons, they soon came to another bridge. Guards were patrolling it and in the middle, stood Leliana and a man garbed in Chantry robes.

"So this is the man who created the Breach?" The man asked. Leliana nodded. "And why is he up and walking free?"

Leliana answered him. "Because he is the only one capable of closing the Breach."

Bewildered the man said," You want to close the Breach? But our situation here is hopeless. We should call a retreat while we still can."

"Are you ordering us, Roderick?" Cassandra said as she glared at the man.

"We can stop this before it is too late."

"Or we can retreat. Elect a new Divine and obey her thoughts on the matter."

Max held up his hands. "Wait wait. None of you are actually in charge here?"

Roderick pointed an accusing finger at him. "You killed everyone in charge!"

"No I didn't! I'm not even a Mage. Doing something like that would require a little thing I don't have called magic."

"We will argue about who's fault it is after the immediate danger has passed." Cassandra said. "And to do that, we should charge with the soldiers."

"Sure lets charge with the soldiers. Anything to make this nightmare go away quicker." Max said through gritted teeth.

"Well then that's settled. Let's go throw our lives away to close a hole in the sky." Varric said.

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes has seen better days." Max said as the four of them stared at what remained of the famous temple.

Once it had been an underground lair for a cult. Then The Warden discovered it during the Fifth Blight in order to find Andraste's ashes needed to heal Arl Eamon. Afterwards, it was excavated and shared with the world. It was once a beautiful temple filled with hope. Now it was reduced to a rather large pile of rubble. Big red crystals littered the sides.

Varric eyed them nervously. "You know that's red lurking, Seeker."

"I see that Varric."

"Yes but what's it doing here?"

"The magic used here may have caused it to form." Solas suggested.

"Whatever. Just don't touch it. That stuff is evil." Varric said.

They made their way down to the temple alongside Leliana and some of her scouts. As they neared the bottom, they heard a deep luminous voice. "Keep the sacrifice still."

Cassandra looked around, confused. "Who are we hearing?"

Solas said simply. "At a guess: the person who created the Breach."

They reached the bottom of the crater that was the remnants of the explosion that destroyed the temple. The air above them shimmered and an image appeared. Max saw an old lady being suspended in the air as some dark figure approached. The lady shouted for help and then suddenly he appeared asking what was going on. Then the image faded.

Cassandra grabbed his shoulder. "You were there! Who attacked? The divine, is she-. What are we seeing?"

"I don't remember." Max said.

"Remnants of ancient magic lingers here." Solas said before Cassandra could hit him. "Well good for us." Max retorted. Varric cleared his throat. "Um, guys? Look up. The Breach is a long way up."

Max did. The Breach was in fact, a long way up. It was literally the sky above them.

"Yeah how do you expect me to close that, much less reach it."Max asked.

"Simple. We close the original rift. Seal it and perhaps we seal the Breach." Solas gestured to a rather large rift(luckily closed) directly under the Breach. "Open the rift, then slam it shut with all your strength." Solas advised.

"Oh that's it? Sounds easy enough."

"I must warn you: opening the rift may attract attention from the other side."

Cassandra unsheathed her sword and brought her shield up. "That means demons! Stand ready!"

She nodded to Max once all present were ready. Max shrugged then thrusted his hand towards the rift, feeling that slight tingly feeling as the rift was slowly being pried open. When it fully opened, it was calm for a split second before a jet of green erupted from it. Then a huge hulking demon burst from the light. It had broad shoulders and towered above all of them. Large horns swept back from its head and small beady eyes peaked out from above a mouth filled with long, very sharp looking, teeth. It roared with ferocity. Max flinched at the sheer volume of its roar.

*Maker curse my luck.* he thought before shouting a battle cry. Then he did the dumbest thing to date: he ran straight at the giant demon with just a sword. He felt Cassandra running besides him and he saw bolts, arrows, and magic fly past him at the demon. It swatted most of them away. Max swiped at its belly and instantly regretted it as he felt a jolt of electricity pass up his arm. He cursed. His sword was made of simple metal which electricity loved. He could feel his arm going numb already. *Great.* Cassandra's sword glanced harmlessly off the demon as well. Instinctively, she brought her shield up which quite possibly saved her life as the demon swung at her, it's razor sharp claws extended. Her shield blocked the claws from ripping her open but the sheer force of the blow sent her flying. It was then that Max realized he and Cassandra were the only ones who had swords. Everyone else had only bows and hunting knives.

Cassandra struggled to get up off the ground but she had hit her head during her trip so she was dazed and confused. The demon, ignoring all the projectiles hitting it, moved closer to Cassandra to finish her off. Max wasn't about to let that happen. *No more die today.* Max did the only sensible thing he could do. He ran at the demon and flung himself onto its back. He stabbed the demon with his sword. Another bolt of electricity surged up his arm. He ignored the pain and began climbing. The demon tried to swat him off but it's reach wasn't long enough. It growled in frustration. Max shoved his blade through the beasts neck and shouting,"No one else dies today!", he thrusted his left hand outward at the rift. With every last ounce of strength he had left, he closed the rift. He vaguely saw a pillar of energy shoot upward from the rift and felt the demon below him stumble and collapse. Then all went black.

He awoke to the sound of a door opening. He groaned. His head was pounding with a splitting headache. He opened his eyes. He was in a small cabin. Entering the cabin was a young elven girl carrying a box filled with plants. Once she noticed that he was awake, she dropped the box in shock.

"Oh! I didn't know you were awake!"

Max sat up. "It's alright. I just-." She fell to her knees and bowed, kind of. "I beg your forgiveness and your blessings. I am but a humble servant."

Max couldn't help but smile at her. "No need to get all serious. Where am I?"

"You are back in Haven, my lord. They say you were the one who stopped the Breach from growing."

Max breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Then...we're safe?"

"That's what people are saying. But Lady Cassandra said that she wanted to see you after you woke. At once she said. At once!" The elf said as she backed out of the hut.

*Weird. Guess I should go see what 'Lady' Cassandra wants.*

Max grimaced as he struggled to stand. "Yeah, wouldn't want to wait around to see if I don't need help standing or anything. Just walk out without checking on me. It's cool." He said to no one. He stretched his muscles. He felt like he hadn't moved in days. His left arm was still asleep; because of the mark or just lack of movement, he didn't know.

Once he thought himself steady enough to walk, he opened the door to the hut and was greeted by the sight of dozens and dozens of people kneeling and applauding. He heard several people call out, "That's him! The Herald of Andraste."

Used to large crowds, he raised his hand to wave. Too late, he realized he had raised the hand with the mark. The hand that was currently almost completely asleep. His left arm just kind of swung oddly up into the air then fell back to his side as he attempted to wave. His cheeks went red in embarrassment. He settled for a nod to the crowd. He walked along the path to the Chantry, smiling and nodding to the crowd gathered as he went. He had no idea what this 'Herald' business was but he figured he would play to the crowd.

He pushed open the big Chantry doors and stepped inside. At the back of Chantry, he heard Cassandra and Roderick's voices from behind a door. Seeing as no one else was inside, he crept up to the door, listening to the argument going on.

"He should be taken to Val Royeaux for trial." Roderick said.

"I do not think he is guilty." Cassandra said in Max's defense.

*Took her long enough to realize that.*

He chose that moment to open the door. Cassandra was leaning over a large table that had a map of Thedas on it. Leliana was off to the side observing. Roderick was standing at the head of the table. As soon as Max stepped in, Roderick turned to two guests standing beside the door. "Chain him. I want him prepared for trial."

"Disregard that and leave us." Cassandra ordered. The guards bowed before marching out.

Roderick turned back to Cassandra angrily. "You walk a dangerous line, Seeker."

"The Breach stable but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it." She retorted.

Max spoke up. "I did everything I could to close the Breach. It almost killed me."

"Yet you live. A convenient result insofar as you are concerned." Roderick spat.

"Have a care, Chancellor. The Breach is not the only threat we face." The Seeker said.

"Some one is behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect. Perhaps they died with the others or have allies who yet live." Leliana chimed in.

Roderick looked appalled. "I am a suspect?"

Leliana nodded. "You. And many others."

"But not the prisoner?" He asked.

"I heard the voices in the Temple. The Divine called out to him for help." Cassandra said.

Roderick scoffed. "So his survival? That thing on his hand? All a coincidence?"

Cassandra's voice went just a little less steely when she said,"Providence. The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour."

Max realized that Cassandra was a religious sort so he decided to do something that he normally wouldn't do but he thought it would help get him on her good side if that was even possible. He quoted scripture. Granted it was one of the only verses from the Chant of Light. His parents had made him memorize it when he was a child.

"Though all before me is shadow, yet shall the Maker be my guide." He quoted.

Cassandra looked startled but she quickly regained her composure. "We lost everything. And then you came to us."

Leliana looked at him. "The Breach remains. And you are still our only hope of closing it."

Let's hope I can close it next time." Max said.

"You can't be serious." Roderick said.

It was then that Cassandra dropped a large dusty book on the table. It made a thud when it landed. Roderick jumped with surprise.

Cassandra looked him in the eyes. "You know what this is Chancellor? A writ granting us the authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn. We will close the Breach, find those responsible and restore peace to Thedas with or without your approval." Roderick, dumbfounded, couldn't even come up with a decent comeback before he stepped out of the room.

Leliana looked a little worried. "But we have no leads, no numbers, and now no Chantry support."

"What choice do we have, Leliana? But we must act now."Cassandra turned towards Max. " with you at our side."

Max didn't even have to think about it. "If your truly trying to restore order."

Leliana made the smallest of smiles. "That is the plan."

"Help us fix this. Before it is too late." Cassandra extended her hand. Max shook it and was surprised at how strong her grip was. She nodded.

Max grinned. "Let's go save the world and all that good stuff." Leliana smirked. Cassandra just rolled her eyes.

"Cheer up, Seeker. The world hasn't ended yet."

Cassandra snorted. "Keyword in that sentence is 'yet'."

Max grinned at her. "Way to stay positive.


	2. Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max's life in Haven right after the dungeon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the guest who left Kudos.

“I haven’t seen you in, what, a little under a year, and already you’re in deep shit again,” Varric remarked as he and Max sat down next to Varric’s tent just in front of the Chantry. Varric popped open a bottle of wine and gave it to Max, and drank together.

“You know me, I have a knack for getting in deep shit. I reckon without me, Hawke wouldn’t have gotten as much money as he did without me acting as a deep shit magnet for me.” Max replied as Varric spit his drink out with laughter.

“So, what did you do before getting captured?”

“I was a hunter in a quaint little town. The name worries no one now, but I had fun.”

“Then what brought you to the Conclave?”

“I was traveling with an old friend of mine who also wanted to come here. I just tagged along with her, and here we are.”

Varric raised his eyebrows at Max, noting how vague he was. 

“Well, I’ve got to go. Thanks for the wine,” Max said as he got back up and nodded farewell to Varric.

 

Max walked away from the camps as he made his way to the apothecary and saw Solas.

He approached him and struck up a casual conversation. What started as a “hello, how are you,” evolved into a philosophical debate about the treatment of each race in Thedas. 

“All right, I have to go.”

“Another time then,”

When he had his full of knowledge for the day, he found himself wandering around the training ground for the new recruits. By chance he came across the Seeker who was beating a practice dummy to death. She had her back to him so when he spoke up, she jumped in surprise.

“You’re like a force of nature, aren’t you?” Max asked.

“Why the sudden compliment?”

“Don’t know. Just trying to make sure that sword doesn’t impale me anytime soon.”

Cassandra grunted as she relaxed and flexed her shoulders.

“Did I do the right thing? People say I’m a madwoman, a fool. And they may be right. I don’t think, I do. My trainers always told me to slow down and think before acting, but acting by instinct has always benefited me. Until now. I shouldn’t have judged you like that at the dungeon.”

“It’s fine. I forgive you,” Max replied as Cassandra stared at him intently.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

“I’m a noble from the Trevelyan family in Ostwick. So you may have seen paintings of me. Dad always did make a lot of paintings of us three.”

“Three?”

“Oh yeah. I’m the middle child  of Bann Trevelyan. Middle of three. Just don’t tell anybody.”

Cassandra was surprised. Most of the nobles she knew would brag about the fact that they were a noble, even though there was nothing noble about them.

“Why don’t you want people to know you’re a noble? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I don’t feel like I’m a noble. I feel like I’m just normal. When people don’t know I’m a noble, they treat me like they would treat their friends. Not higher, not lower. But when people know I’m a noble, they get all formal. I really don’t like that. I also don’t deserve to be a noble.”

“Why? Did you do something wrong?”

“I don’t think I did anything wrong. It’s not like murder or thievery or anything like that. But I really don’t want to talk about it now.”

“Oh come on. You can’t leave me hanging.”

“Yes he can,” Varric said as he walked up to the both of them.

“What are you doing here dwarf?” Cassandra asked.

"Oh just stopping by to tell you that you both are need in the war room."

Max groaned. "Why me? I'm not important enough right?"

Varric gave a hearty laugh. "'Not important enough'? Was that a serious question?"

Max stared blankly at him.

"Well, shit. You really don't know?"

"Don't know what? What is it I don't know?"

Varric doubled over with laughter. Max pestered him about what he didn't know but Varric just waved him off as he walked away back towards the tavern.

Max looked to Cassandra. "What was that all about?"

She took a couple seconds before she responded. "Some say you are the Herald of Andraste. People heard about what happened at the Breach. People have heard stories of how we found you."

"How did I survive the blast?"

"No one truly knows. They say you stepped out of a rift. A woman was there behind you. No one knows who she is. But people are saying that it was Andraste herself sending you to help us."

"That sounds like the last thing I remember before I woke in chains. In my vision or whatever you want to call it, a woman did reach out to me as I was running away from some type of creature. But that's all I remember. What do you think about it?" He asked her.

"Yes I believe she sent you in our hour of need. What else could it be? But what about you? How do you feel about it?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know how I should feel. I don't feel like I've been 'touched by Andraste' or anything. Anyway, we should probably head down to the war table. I suppose we are important."

\--------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

*So a noblewoman and a soldier and a hero. Odd trio.*

Cassandra gestured to the soldier saying, "This is Commander Cullen: leader of the Inquisition's forces."

"As they are. We lost a lot of men because of the Breach." The man's voice even sounded like a soldier.

"And we'll lose a lot more before this whole thing is over." Max said.

Cassandra turned to the lady in yellow. "This is our ambassador: Josephine Montilyet."

Josephine bowed her head. "I've heard much. It's an honor to finally meet you." Max bowed in reply.

Finally Cassandra turned to Leliana. "And you already know Leliana."

Max rubbed his chin. "Yeah her name does ring a bell." He said sarcastically. That earned a chuckle from Cullen and a coy smile from Josephine. Leliana hid a grin and Cassandra ignored the comment altogether.

Leliana nodded and said, "My business here involves a degree of-."

Cassandra cut her off. "Leliana is our spymaster."

Leliana sighed. "Yes. Tactically put, Cassandra."

Max grinned. "That's an impressive bunch of titles."

Max thought he heard a snicker come from Cassandra's area but when he looked at her, she had on her usual stone serious face on.

"So why did you three call us down here? Just to admire the glowing green mark on my hand spewing out magic? That's a popular thing to look at nowadays from what I've been told. Or do you want to talk about the so called 'Herald of Andraste' business? That's a close second."

Leliana spoke. "We called you down so we could discuss what to do next."

"Why me though? I'm not that important other than the blasted thing carved into my hand."

Cullen chuckled. "Not that important? You are a hero who saved the world from being swallowed up by the Breach. I say that makes you at least a little important."

Max shook his head. "All I did was stop it spreading. I didn't get rid of it. Hell, some people even think I put it in the sky in the first place."

Josephine spoke with a heavy Antivan accent that sounded very enticing. It made him want to listen to her voice more.

"The Chantry seems to think that. They already did even before you stopped it. And Chancellor Roderick has been at the forefront of that belief."

"With all due respect, I say hang the Chantry. I don't see them out here trying to stitch the hole in the sky." scoffed Cullen.

"The Chantry's only strength is that they are united in opinion. And yet they may bury us in them. We should try to come to a truce with the Chantry before anything else. Maybe there are some sisters sympathetic to our cause?" She said in question.

Leliana stepped forward. "Not sisters but we may have a mother of helping. There is a woman:Mother Giselle, who is out in the Hinterlands aiding the refugees trapped amongst the fighting. She has shown interest in helping the Inquisition. We could reach out to her and help aid the refugees at the same time. If that's fine with the Herald?" She posed the question at Max who jumped as he realized everyone was looking at him, expecting an answer.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

Cassandra sighed, annoyed. "There may be rifts spread throughout the Hinterlands. That means there may be demons preying on the refugees. And since you are the only one who can seal them, you need to go with whoever goes to meet Mother Giselle."

"You had me at demons preying on the helpless. We can't have that now can we?"

Cullen nodded. "Now all that's left is to figure out who is going. The Herald obviously. I say he be accompanied by force of twenty men at least for protection."

Leliana shook her head. "Out of the question. A force like that would only attract unwanted attention. We need to send a small force of maybe four or five people including the Herald. That way, they can help without drawing too much attention to themselves. My scouts can occupy any good base camp spots and keep an eye on what's going on."

"I will go with the Herald." Cassandra said. It was not a question.

Max raised a hand. "Um, the Herald has a name you know. It's Max by the way. Just for future references."

Cassandra ignored him. It was a favorite pastime of hers it seemed.

"Who else will go with him?" Josephine asked.

"Solas should go. He knows more about the rifts than anyone else." Suggested Cassandra.

"Varric should go as well." Max said.

Instantly, Cassandra shook her head. "Out of the question. I am not going anywhere with that dwarf. I've had enough of that rogue to last a lifetime. If I spend any more time with him I'll go mad."

Max looked her in the eyes as he said, "Cassandra, Varric has the most experience here besides maybe Leliana as far as following someone around killing bad guys. Besides, if I have to put up with both Solas and you, I'll go mad."

"But-."

Leliana cleared her throat. "It makes sense, Cassandra. Varric joined Hawke on many of his 'adventures'. If anyone knows how to work as a small team, it's him."

After a few moments. Cassandra relented. "Fine. But if he annoys me, I'm throwing him off a ledge."

“Fair enough,” Max said.


	3. The Hinterlands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max goes to the Hinterlands to talk to Mother Giselle. He also meets someone along the way.

The next few days had been spent riding to the Hinterlands. Naturally, Max gravitated towards hiking, but everyone else said riding. Max breathed the fresh and crisp air in as they approached the Hinterlands. It was picturesque, with dabs of green, red and orange. It looked like where a person would retire to, and die in peace. And of course the mages and templars fight there.

They established a base camp a mile away from where Mother Giselle was supposedly. After the four rested, they headed down to the Crossroads. “Let’s pick the pace up,” Max said as he unstrapped his stilettos from his back, and everyone else followed suit.

They turned a bend in the road when they were thrust into the middle of a war zone.

Max roared as he charged at the Templars and mages. Somehow, every magical blast and arrow avoided him as he jumped off a shield and landed on Templar. He slit the Templar’s throat and threw his stiletto at a mage. The blade had found its mark. 

“Damn,” Varric as he cocked his crossbow and started firing bolts at the archers. Solas fired blasts at the mages and Cassandra charged at a Templar with her shield as Max kept going. A few minutes later, all the mages and Templars were dead. Max wiped a bead of sweat from his eyes as he saw something. There was one Templar left, and he was raising his blade to slaughter two children. 

“NO!” Max roared as he sprinted towards the Templar, blades at the ready and adrenaline high. Suddenly, the Templar was no more. He fell to the ground, and never rose up. Max saw a Dalish elf run away behind the children, sheathing her greatsword and sprinting as fast as possible. 

“Hey, wait!” Max called out as he sprinted after her, taking a while to catch. Finally, they both stopped to catch their breath and rest their beating heart. 

“Thank you. For saving those children. If you weren’t there, they would’ve died, and I could never forgive myself,” Max said as the elf turned around. Max was blown away by her beauty. Her wavy chestnut hair complemented a beautiful face with green eyes and a faint vallaslin. She was about an inch shorter than him, and he was 6 feet tall. Then something weird started to happen. Max started to see her in place of this dalish woman. *No, No, NO!* Max thought as the image shifted from reality to her and back.    
“What are you staring at?” the woman asked, starting to get self-conscious at him. 

“Oh sorry!” Max replied as he started blushing. 

“Well are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?” The woman asked as Max shook his head.

“Sorry. I uh- I’m here- for uh-,” Max stuttered as Cassandra, Varric, Solas caught up with him. 

“What this idiot’s trying to say is that we’re part of the Inquisition. We’re here trying to help the locals and collect some information,” Varric said as the elf nodded.

“Well, we’ll be on our way then,” Cassandra said as they turned around and started walking.

“Wait,” the elf called out as Max turned around. 

“You’re Inquisition agents? Does that mean you’re trying to stop the Breach?” she asked as Max nodded.

“That’s what I came for anyways. What do you think of using another sword in your army?”

“I would very much like that,” Max replied as he motioned the elf to join them.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Solas asked as Max nodded and walked away silently.

 

Max cleared his throat as he approached. "Mother Giselle, I take it?"

She rose from the soldier she was talking to and said,"I am. And you must be the one they are calling 'The Herald of Andraste."

Max grinned. "Not through any choice of mine."

She chuckled. "We seldom have any say in our fate, I'm sad to say."

"So you agree with the rest of Chantry pals?" Max asked.

"I don't presume to know the Maker's intentions. For any of us. But I did not ask you to come here just to debate with me."

"Then why am I here?"

She gestured for him to walk with her.

"I know of the Chantry's denouncement. And I am familiar with those behind it. I won't lie to: some of them of grandstanding in order to help their rise to Divine. Some are simply terrified. So many good people senselessly taken from us." She said sadly.

"What happened was a tragedy." Max said.

"Go to them. Prove to them that you are not a monster in disguise. They have heard only frightfully tales of you. Give them something else to believe."

Max laughed. "So what? Show up, show them the mark on my hand and hope they don't smite me for heresy?"

"Appeal to them. If I thought you were in cable of it, I would not have suggested it."

"Will they even listen to me?"

"Let me put it this way: you needn't convince them all. You just need some to doubt. Their power is their unified voice. Take that from them and you receive the time you need."

"Well thanks. I guess. At least you are doing more than most."

She looked him in the eye. "I honestly don't know if you were touched by faith or sent to help us but I hope. Hope is what we need now. And for many, you are that hope. The people will listen to your rallying call as they will listen to no other. You could build the Inquisition into a force that will deliver us or destroy us." She paused. " I will go to Haven and inform Sister Leliana the names of those in the Chantry that would be willing to talk. It is not much. But I will do whatever I can." She turned and walked down the steps. Cassandra passed her on the way up. She nodded at her.

"So how'd it go? Will she help us?" She asked as she reached him.

"Yes I believe so. But next time, you are doing the talking. That woman makes me uncomfortable. She's very serious."

"What about me? Do I make you uncomfortable? Varric always says I'm very serious."

Max grinned at her. "No not at all. In fact I rather thought you were fairly laid back. At least compared to my father. Now that was a man no one could get a grin out of. He was very scary."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Was? Is he dead?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"Then why'd you say it was like he was dead?"

Max grimaced. "Personal matter. Hey look, Varric!" He moved over to where Varric was playing with some of the refugee children. Cassandra watched after Max. *I guess he doesn't like talking about his personal life all that much.*

The dalish elf joined Max in entertaining the children as they squealed and giggled. He felt warmth and comfort from standing next to the woman. *Damn, I’m in love with her as soon as I see her? That’s pretty weird,* Max thought as he picked a child up and held her up like a bird.

“My name’s Max. What’s yours?” he asked the woman as he put the child down and held his hand out in greeting. 

“Ellana. Ellana Lavellan.” Ellana replied as she shook his hand. Max felt a shiver up his spine the moment she touched his hand. 

“Lavellan. You’re from Ostwick, aren’t you?” he asked as she looked at him in surprise.

“Near Ostwick, but yes. How’d you know?”

“I heard my father talk about trading with your clan. According to him, and these are not my words, “These are the ones that actually act civilized, instead of being like the other savages.”” Max finished as he saw anger flash in her eyes. *Fuck, I just ruined my “first” impression,* he thought as they left the children and headed back to camp.

“Anyways, what brings you down from the Marches to Ferelden?” Max asked.

“My Keeper sent me to investigate the Breach and the Inquisition that’s investigating it. Safe to say, that’s a success.”

“So what are we doing?” Cassandra asked as Max looked at the landscape with determination.

“We’re fixing everything. And I mean everything. Then we leave for Val Royeaux.”


	4. Warden's Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max's buried demons haunt him. Also, a crucial point about him is revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to evensoullivesforever for leaving a Kudos. I really appreciate it.

It had taken them a whole week. A whole week to drive the rebel mages and templars out of the Hinterlands. A whole week to restore order to what once was a beautiful landscape but now scarred remains to symbolize the people’s divisions. A whole week to secure the residents’ safety, and get the region back on its feet.

Max winced as he bumped his foot into yet another rock. “How the hell do they advertise these boots as “hiker friendly”, but make even a small bump feel like your foot’s about to fall off?” He asked nobody as they continued walking.

“Are you alright?” Ellana asked with compassion that Max had never experienced before. 

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes completely,” Max ended as he quickly rushed forward to Varric’s company, leaving Cassandra and Ellana alone. 

“Is he always like this? Cheery and fun among men, but jittery and dumb around women?” Ellana asked as Cassandra grinned. 

“Nope. He’s fine around me. I think it’s just you.”

“Weird.”

  
  


After they had set camp, Max sat down, breathing in the fresh scent of hot stew. *Looks like Varric never lost his touch,* Max thought as he devoured his stew and didn’t notice Ellana approaching him. 

“Max,” Ellana said as Max dropped his bowl on his foot. 

“Why the hell did it land on the same fucking foot?!” Max roared as he gripped his toes and jumped up and down.

“Max, calm down,” Solas said as he approached the warrior in pain and grabbed his foot. He started murmuring incantations, and his foot slowly got its color and its abilities back.

“Aaah,” Max sighed as he moved his foot around in comfort.

“I was going to ask if you could do something, but that’s ruled out now,” Ellana said as Max shook his head.

“Nonsense, tell me what it is.”

“Let’s test how good you really are with those stilettos.”

“Sure,” Max said as he got up and grabbed his stilettos. “As long as I don’t have to get scratches out of my weapons in the morning.”

“I can take care of that,” Solas said again as he enchanted the weapons to be unscratchable.

Max and Ellana spread out from the campfire, leaving Varric, Solas, and Cassandra to watch.

“Before we start, I know that the Dalish probably have their own way of sparring which is better than mine, so I humbly beg you to not completely obliterate me,” Max said as he bowed.

“Is this your strategy? To appease to your better?” Ellana teased with a grin on her face.

“Nope. I’m just acknowledging the facts, and begging for my life to be spared,” he replied.

Ellana almost always found that whoever was modest with their skills were much better than anyone else. And Max was no different. She noticed the way he bounced on his toes, the way he twirled his daggers in his hands. Suddenly, Max jumped in the air and lunged at Ellana in a move known as “twin fangs”. Anybody else had been there, they would’ve died instantly. But Ellana wasn’t just anybody. She easily dodged the attack and brought her greatsword down in a sweep.

Max rolled away,  swiping at her back and making contact with Ellana’s armor. *So much power behind a simple sweep,* Ellana thought as the wind was knocked out of her and she fell over gasping for air. Max let her get back up, and started swiping and stabbing at her. Ellana could barely keep up as Max went left, right, left, up, down, left. And suddenly, it stopped. Some sixth sense told Ellana to duck, and she followed, as a stiletto hit the tree, rocking back and forth. If it had been anybody else, their head would’ve been cut off and hanging with the stiletto. Ellana opened her eyes to see terror in Max’s eyes. He dropped his other stiletto, and fell on his knees, tears flowing freely from his face. 

“Whatever god or gods are out there, why do you torment me like this?” Max asked as he hugged himself. Ellana was shocked. The black hair and blue eyes only showed good humor and a knack for pranks. They never showed her the terror that could reduce a strong and confident man to a sniveling pile of mess. 

“It’s all right. The sun’s going down. The sun’s going down,” Varric murmured as he helped Max up and to his tent.

“I should go to him,” Ellana started as she took a step and was blocked by Cassandra.

“No. I’ve seen this before. People call it Warden’s Heart. It’s when a person’s memories are so bad, they come back to haunt them for the rest of their lives. Kind of like how darkspawn would haunt a Warden’s dreams after a Blight had ended.”

“Please. It’s my fault.”

“No. It’s not yours. The only thing you did to Max was somehow trigger a bad memory. Nothing else,” Cassandra replied as she walked Ellana back to her tent.

 

The next morning, Ellana went to Max as he packed his tent up.

“Do you want to talk about…”   
“No. I’m sorry, but this is the one thing I can’t bring myself to reveal outside. It’s just bad memories. You can add that to pile of mistakes. Almost beheading someone,” Max replied as he walked away.

“What happened to him?” Ellana asked Solas, Cassandra, and Varric as they finished stripping camp.

“I believe our Herald had a bad, really bad encounter with darkspawn in Ferelden during the Fifth Blight. His intense sparring with you surfaced those memories he tried to bury for a long time,” Solas replied.

“Why won’t he talk about it? If he does, he can let all the pain go,” Ellana asked as Cassandra shook her head.

“Would you share that personal information with someone you only met a week ago?” she asked as Ellana bit her help.

“Good point.”

“Chop Chop. Let’s move it,” Max interrupted as everybody stood up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based the condition "Warden's Heart" around PTSD. It originally was called "Soldier's Heart", so I used Warden instead of soldier. Also, Max's hair is supposed to look like Alistair's hair from Origins, but black.


	5. Family First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max reveals to Ellana what's been going on in his mind.

“Herald!” Cullen called out as Max walked past him in the training grounds.

“Yes?” Max replied.

“There is someone. A woman said she wants to see you and she knows you very well. I told her to wait at the Chantry for you,” Cullen replied as he saw tiredness in his eyes.

“All right, I’ll go find her,”

*I swear, if it’s another random noble, I’m literally going to throw her into the Breach,* Max thought as he walked to the Chantry.

He saw the woman. She had long black hair, with hazelnut eyes that could pierce into your soul and figure all your tricks. That could only be one person.

“Grace!” Max yelled as he ran towards her and gave her a bear hug.

“Max!” Grace yelled as she returned the hug with the same intensity.

Ellana was walking by to ask Max something when she stumbled on this scene.

“How are you?” Max asked as Grace nodded.

“I’m fine. I have to ask the same about you. What happened to you?” Grace asked as Ellana tapped Max’s shoulder.

“Oh sorry.” Max said as he gestured Ellana and Grace to come into the Chantry.

“Ellana. This is Grace Trevelyan. My sister. Grace, this is Ellana. One of my closest, and only, friends in the Inquisition.”

Grace and Ellana shook hands as Max started off. “I should leave you two to acquaint yourselves with each other.”

 

*How could something be so beautiful yet so damaging?* Max thought as he sat down near the frozen river. He looked up at the Breach. It was beautiful, in a I’m-going-to-fuck-shit-up kind of way. It terrified him. He didn’t know how he was going to close it. Or even if he could. Maybe, he could just somehow jump into the Breach, and his troubles would go away.

“Your sister is a very nice person,” Ellana said as Max jumped.

“Gosh, you have to stop scaring me like that,” Max replied as Ellana laughed.

“Anyways, I’m sorry. If I have any cause in your bad memories,” Ellana said as Max looked at her.

“You don’t have to be. I was the one that went all-in during our sparring. If anybody is to blame, it’s me.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re feeling better now.”

“As am I.”

\------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------

_ The sky was blood red. Grass withered at their footsteps as Max and Caitwyn walked along the hill. It was the Fifth Blight, and they were heading home after checking on Caitwyn’s sister in the Denerim Alienage. Caitwyn had heard that a purge of the Alienage was imminent, and wanted  to make sure that everything was alright. Turns out that King Cailan had ordered the Arl of Denerim to stand down and to not attack the Alienage, before riding off into battle and getting killed by the darkspawn. Max and Caitwyn were walking back, filled with content and longing to be back home. _

_ “I still can’t believe that the king spared the Alienage,” Caitwyn said as they walked. “I hadn’t expected that at all.” _

_ “Look on the bright side. Kallian’s okay. Your cousin’s okay, even though she was the one who killed the Arl’s son. Everything is fine.” Max replied as Caitwyn smiled. _

_ “You remember when we snuck up on Kallian? She didn’t realize we were here, and we tiptoed into Papa’s house. Remember how she screamed when she realized we were there?” Caitwyn said as she started laughing.  _

 

_ “I remember how your sister almost killed me for being a human inside an Alienage. Even after you convinced her to stop, she was still pissed at a human for entering the Alienage.” Max replied as Caitwyn started laughing even more.  _

_ “I don’t see how that’s funny. I would’ve died!” _

_ “How much worse would the world be without Maxwell Trevelyan? Hmmm.?” _

_ Max punched Caitwyn in the arm as she fell down dying of laughter.  _

_ “Well, I’m sure some people would miss me. I would miss myself, that’s for sure.” He said as he helped her up. _

_ “Of course they would. I would miss you too. A lot. So let’s make sure that you don’t die.” Caitwyn said as they kept walking. _

_ She suddenly looked serious as Max heard a roar from the distance. _

_ “Darkspawn,” Caitwyn growled as they charged at them. It was a big group, and Max and Caitwyn would have their work cut out for them. _

_ Max drew out his daggers as he saw Caitwyn draw her shield and sword out. He charged at the darkspawn, cutting them down one by one. He dodged an emmisary’s blast and cut down a genlock as he heard a thump and a grunt behind him. _

_ He turned around to see Caitwyn collapsed on the floor and a hurlock holding a bow with a sinister smirk. Max roared and threw his dagger at the hurlock, killing it, as he fell down near Caitwyn’s body.  _

_ “The hurlock.. Would’ve hit you.. If I didn’t jump in front,” Caitwyn said as she grimaced. Too much blood had been lost. She wouldn't survive. _

_ “Don’t die on me. Please, hang in there!” Max yelled as he brought out bandages and an elfroot salve, and started treating her wound.  _

_ “My love, I won’t survive. But, the taint is in my blood. It’ll turn me. Please, don’t let it do that.” Caitwyn slowly said as Max shook his head. _

_ “No, I won’t let you die. You can’t die. Not now!” _

_ “Please,” Caitwyn pleaded as Max finally nodded and drew out his dagger. _

_ “Farewell, my love, Forgive me, for committing the ultimate sin.” Max said. _

_ She gripped his head and smiled at him sadly. Then, she kissed him deeply, a kiss of goodbye and lost promises. A kiss of sorrow yet content.  _

_ Max stabbed her heart, ensuring a painless and quick death. And her hands collapsed to the ground. _

_ Caitwyn let out a final gasp, and the life inside of her died out. Max openly cried now, holding his dead lover in his arms, and loathing this trip. _

_ Max heard thunder. Rain started plummeting down to the Earth as the sound etched into his mind, destined to haunt him forever.  _

_ Drip. Drip. Drip. Max’s tears mixed with the rain until even he couldn’t tell whether it was the rain or his sorrow. _

_ “WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME MAKER!” Max screamed towards the sky as his heart withered away with Caitwyn’s soul. _

_ “FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, I FIND HAPPINESS, AND YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!” _

_ Unable to say anything more, Max started to cry again, as someone approached him. _

_ “Max!” They yelled as Max refused to turn. _

_ “Max!” It got louder. _

\---------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------

“MAX!” 

Ellana yelled as Max woke up, sweat pouring down his face and eyes bloodshot. 

“What happened?!” Max yelled as Ellana got off his bed.

“I heard yelling, something about ‘Caitwyn’. So I ran in, and saw you dreaming. You looked like you were about to die.”

Max buried his face into his hands and started crying. Ellana couldn’t take it. The man was jolly, happy going and humorous around everyone. But that was his mask. Inside, he was a broken man, and his mind is fracturing even more, killing him from the inside.

“You shouldn’t have come in. You shouldn’t have sacrificed your sleep for me. I am broken Ellana, and there’s nothing to fix it.”

Ellana looked at the man who was in anguish. “Can you talk about it now? So that you can at least let it all out?”

Max nodded. “It was during the Fifth Blight. I had loved a woman named Caitwyn, and she loved me back. She used to live in the Alienage in Denerim, then escaped to Ostwick, where she was a hunter for our family.” Max said as his voice broke with sorrow.

“During the Blight, her cousin had killed the Arl of Denerim’s son for kidnapping and attempting to rape a bunch of city elves. Because of that, the Arl wanted to purge the Alienage, so we went to check on Caitwyn’s sister and cousin. After we made sure everything was ok, we made our way back to Ostwick, when we were ambushed by darkspawn. When I wasn’t looking during the fight, Caitwyn blocked a tainted arrow that would’ve hit me and was fatally wounded. At the end, I had to kill her so that the arrow wouldn’t taint her completely. That’s what’s been plaguing me for the past ten years. The guilt that I was ultimately responsible for my lover’s death.”

Ellana looked at Max in a new light. No wonder he was ravaged by these dreams. 

“Ellana, thank you for listening. That felt really good, getting it out of my body. Now you go get some sleep, or else I’m going to have to time you out,” Max said, with a sad grin at the end.

Ellana nodded and left, wiping her tears away from her face and praying to the Creators that someone can help this man.


	6. Val Royeaux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and his gang visit Val Royeaux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to user TheCrzyWheaten for leaving Kudos. Happy that my writing is not too bad and people enjoy it.

Two days later, Max, Varric, Ellana and Cassandra left for Val Royeaux. Grace was staying back, still tired from her journey. She took the time to get to know everybody, including the horsemaster and Mother Giselle, and the Commander. She especially liked the Commander. He was a chivalrous and caring man, who was kind to everybody regardless of who they are. One thing she realized was that everybody deeply respected Max. They genuinely thought he was the Herald of Andraste, and that he would save the world. *Better treated here than he was at home,* she thought.

 

She and Leliana were sitting in Leliana’s giant tent and talking about how the Hero saved Max from certain death.

“You were there weren’t you? When the Archdemon fell?”

“Yes. It landed on the top of Denerim castle, its wings injured by Riordan. Lyna, Dog the mabari, Alistair, and I climbed to the top where we had a showdown. I was worried, but I knew Alistair was even more worried. He and Lyna had grown really close during the Blight, and by the end, had fallen completely in love.”

“I heard that she was only a Warden because she was infected.”

“Yes. She was a member of the Sabrae clan that had resided in the Brecilian Forest. She came upon a tainted mirror which passed the Blight onto her. Duncan, the Warden-Commander, had saved her, and took her to Ostagar, where she met Alistair. What can I say? She was initially reluctant to even interact with anybody, often plotting ways to escape from the camp. Finally, as she witnessed the destruction of Lothering, she had told me. ‘I understand now what the Wardens are. They are a shield, to protect the innocent and untouched from the ultimate evil. The darkspawn don’t care if they were a Dalish elf, a dwarf, a human, or even a Qunari. They will hunt you and kill you no matter what. And that’s what Wardens are there for. To kill them back.’” Leliana finished as Grace nodded with reverence to the person who sacrificed so much to keep a world that persecuted and harassed her kind. 

“How is she? As a person?” Grace asked as Leliana smiled.

“At first, she seemed annoying. Not wanting to do the right thing. But after Lothering, she toughened up, and accepted her role within this group. Then she instantly became more likable. Her relationship with Alistair was cute, because she tried to hide it but we knew. So we made fun of her. A lot.” Leliana said as she and Grace laughed.

\---------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------

“Val Royeaux. Flashy. What do you think?” Ellana asked as she walked with Max through the city gates.

“I agree with you. Flashy, but not my style. Too flashy, in my opinion.”

“What is your style?”

Max looked at Ellana. “I prefer more of a natural landscape. To me, they always were more beautiful than cities.”

“How? Didn’t you live in a city for your entire life?”

Max chuckled. “Not my entire life, but that’s another story for another day. I just like the fact that nature’s laid out barely. There is no hidden meaning inside of the complex mountains. Val Royeaux is reeking with narcissism and self-righteousness.”

Ellana nodded as she, Max, Cassandra, and Varric approached the stand. On the stage were three Chantry members. One was a mother and the others were sisters. The mother was speaking when Max and Cassandra slipped into the crowd gathered. The mother saw them.

"We mourn our Divines beautiful and naive heart, silenced by treachery. You wonder what became of her murderers. We'll wonder no more. We say this is a false prophet, driven by no more than his own greed!"

"We came here to talk and this is how you greet us? Not very nice to the people trying to help are you?" Max yelled above the mothers voice.

"It's true! We are only trying to close the Breach, before it is too late!" Cassandra said.

The mother grinned. "It is already too late!" She said before turning to a group of Templars approaching. One of the recruits stepped up onto the stage behind the obvious leader and punched the mother square in the jaw. The mother crumpled to the ground. The leader laid a hand on one of the other Templars who had gone to help the mother up. "Still yourself! She is beneath us." The man said.

"But Lord Seeker-." The Templar said. The recruit stepped up. "You are called to a higher purpose. Do not question!" The other Templar settled down.

Cassandra recognized the leader. "Lord Seeker Lucius?"

The Lord Seeker turned to her, shaking his head. "Raising a puppet on a string as Andraste's Herald? You should be ashamed of yourself. The Templars failed no one when they left the Chantry to purge the mages."

Max laughed. "If you didn't come here to help then you just came to make speeches?"

Lucius turned his attention to Max. "I came to see what frightened old woman so and to laugh. But the inquisition has shown me nothing. And you, less than nothing. Templars! Val Royeaux is unworthy of our protection. We march!" The Templars then followed the Lord Seeker out of the city. Rather quickly if it must be noted.

Max snorted in disgust. "That went well." He said. "Heh that was the Lord Seeker? Seems like a charming guy." Varric said with a wry smile.

"Guess we aren't getting any Templars to help with closing the Breach. What now?"

Frustrated, Cassandra shrugged and said, "I don't know. But we need someone to help with the Breach. Anyone."

Ellana walked up as quiet as ever. "Maybe the mages will help."

Max snorted. "They weren't willing to speak to us before. Why should they now?"

"Because their leader talked to me. Grand Enchanter Fiona wishes to speak to you at Redcliffe. I thought you'd like to know."

"Hmm that might work. The Breach is magic that's plain to see. So the mages might be able to assist in destroying it."

"As long as they don't do any weird shit, I'm fine." Varric said. "I've had enough of weird magic shit."

“That makes the two of us, buddy. That makes the two of us,” Max said as he paused.

“I had to buy some new armor anyways. You want to join me?” he asked as Cassandra and Varric nodded.

“I’m going and talking to the Mother. See if she’s ok,” Cassandra said as she walked away.

“And I’m going to buy some ink,” Varric said as he walked away too.

“Guess that leaves you and me. Do you want to join?” Max said as Ellana nodded and walked with him to the nearest armor store. 

 

“Don’t these look good?” Max asked Ellana as he was looking through boots to buy.

“Oh yeah, so good,” Ellana agreed distractedly as she peered at a tapestry. It looked beautiful, with little gold shavings and a dark green background. There were small figures on the tapestry, doing something to another group of small figures.

*Wait a minute,* Ellana thought as she looked closer. Then her heart sank. The small figures were elven slaves prostrating themselves in front of the Orlesians. 

Ellana suddenly noticed a little boy looking at her. “Ellana,” Max called as he turned around and saw her staring at the little boy.

“Hey buddy, can I help you?” Max said as he grinned and knelt down to be eye-to-eye with the child.

“I have a question,” the little boy replied.

Max nodded. “Does she have to draw those on every morning?” the little boy asked as Max thought.

*Ah. The vallaslin.*

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Ma’am. Do you have to draw those on every morning?”

“I certainly hope not,” Ellana replied as she remembered choosing Mythal’s simple design. How she debated with what god to choose. And the pain. But she couldn’t say anything, or else she wasn’t considered ready.

“Are they tattoos?”

“Yes, sweetie, they are. My clan elders gave them to me when they felt I was ready.”

“Oh.” A pause. “They’re pretty. But I wouldn’t want to wear them every day.” She smiled wryly.

“Are you from the Alienage?”

“No, sweetie, I’m not. I’m from far away.”

“My mom said you’re a knife-ear. But your ears don’t look that sharp. Can I touch them?”

“You can touch them.”

The young boy reached out and felt the tips of her ears with his hand. He laughed shrilly in delight. Ellana found herself smiling with him – this was the first pure, honest interaction she’d had with an Orlesian since she’d arrived at Val Royeaux. Max smiled too, as he observed from a corner, content to let Ellana hold the boy’s attention.

“How dare you touch my son?!”

A woman who resembled a ridiculous porcelain doll made a beeline for them and tore the child away. A feathered, lace mask the color of grass adorned a not-so-beautiful face contorted with scorn.

Ellana stood up, her face hardening. “He was just asking me some questions, ma’am –“

“ _ Ferme ta gueule _ ! You elven skank.” Her shrill shriek was catching the attention of passersby, who began stopping in the middle of the street, staring. “You wanted to steal him for yourself? You monster.”

“Ma’am. We don’t know who you are. We don’t know who your son is. We’re not here to cause trouble. Please don’t make accusations that you don’t know are true,” Max said, looking down at the woman.

“Look at you,  _ un humain _ ! Why do you spend your time with these  _ voleurs de putes _ ? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“I repeat this again, we are here only to shop for goods. We have no quarrel with you, and will not have a quarrel with you unless required. So please leave us in peace.”

“Shut up,  _ imbecile. _ Knife-ears like you and lowborn like you can only cause havoc in Val Royeaux. You lot deserve to be stomped out and left in whatever sewer you came from.”

Max suddenly brought his hand up and slapped the lady. The sound rang throughout the shop, and everybody turned to look at Max. The lady tried to say something again, but Max slapped her again, just as hard this time. 

“Just because my companion is an elf and I am traveling with her does not warrant this level of abuse. Turn and leave, and learn to control your shit-filled mouth next time.”

“ _ Monsieur _ . Why are you fighting with my mother?” the little boy asked as Max looked at him.

“Apparently, your mother couldn’t understand the fact that my friend here is a person, and has feelings. You know what?” Max said as he knelt down. “How about you teach your mother a few manners? So that she knows what to say and what not to say to prevent her from being slapped next?”

The boy fiercely nodded and dragged his mother away to show her something as Max turned around walked to Ellana.

“Do you want to go home? Because I do,” he said as Ellana nodded quickly.

They proceeded to walk out of the store without buying anything. On the way out, Max could hear the lady say “ _ Fils de pute _ ” and smiled as he flipped her off and walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ferme Ta gueule" - Shut your mouth.  
> "Vouleurs de putes" - Thieving Whore  
> "Fils de pute" - Son of a bitch
> 
> Just for those who don't know French :)


	7. Redcliffe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We hear about a new crush that certain people have. Also, Redcliffe talks.

“Hey, Max,” Ellana said as she walked into his cabin.

Max was playing a beautiful tune on his guitar. The notes seemed to bounce through the air. His fingers moved with the notes like magic, but magic that doesn’t hurt someone. 

Max didn’t even look up as Ellana sat down and waited for him to finish. 

When he finished, she applauded, and he bowed for fun.

“How long have you been playing?” Ellana asked as Max put his lute down.

“I’ve been playing for let’s see, 10 years now.”

Ellana looked at Max in surprise. No wonder he was so good.

“My father started making me take lessons. You know, to impress people if they ever came over. And then, I just kept playing. And playing. And playing. And here we are.”

Max smiled and put his lute away. “I expect you haven’t come here just to hear me play. What were you going to say?” he asked.

“I just wanted to say thank you for standing up for me at the bazaar in Val Royeaux. Not everybody I know would do that, and that was a very kind action to do,” she said with a genuine smile as Max blushed. Though Ellana didn’t know why he would.

“I would’ve done it for anyone. Although I am sorry my temper got the best of me. That must’ve been really been embarrassing for you, for you to stand behind while I slapped the lady.”

“It really wasn’t. It was more like an inspiring view, just standing back while you took over and didn’t let me say anything embarrassing.”

“Well, that’s good,” Max finished as he sat on the bed and propped open a book.

Truthfully, that was what Ellana thought. She was taken aback when he went up to her and slapped her. Like he actually viewed her as more than a knife-ear. *Of course you do. You’re part of his inner circle,* she thought as she mentally slapped herself. *Oh Elgar’nan, spare these feelings inside me,* Ellana thought as she felt like she was about to explode. She knew Max went lengths to make sure that Ellana was treated equally to everyone else. The thing that Ellana wondered was whether he did this out of compassion or he wanted something else.

“Well, good night,” Ellana said as she walked out of his cabin.

\------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------

“Where is he?” Ellana asked out loud. They had been heading to Redcliffe, to investigate the mages and a possible alliance with them. It was Max, Ellana, Cassandra, Grace, Solas, and Varric. They were sitting at their camp when Max had wanted to go take a wash. Nobody cared, so he went on his own. And it was almost sundown now.

“Ellana, he’ll be fine. It’s not like he’s going to get mauled by a bear or get beaten to death by darkspawn. He’s just gone to the pond to take a bath,” Cassandra said.

“Oh Seeker, I believe she wants to find him for many other reasons,” Varric said as Grace bellowed out with laughter, and Ellana blushed till her face was as red as an apple.

“Fine, you can go. It’s not good for us to laze around while a potential Herald is in danger,” Cassandra said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ellana got up excitedly and ran away, even leaving her greatsword back. 

“See, I told you. She wants to make sure Max is safe, but she didn’t even take her sword.”

 

Ellana bounded towards the woods, not caring about leaving her greatsword behind. What if the Herald had drowned? Or Templars or mages attacked him? Or what if a bear…

Ellana suddenly stopped as she approached a clearing. There was grass, with a medium-sized pond in the middle. She saw Max calmly undress himself. He first took his tunic off, revealing a well toned body riddled with long gashes, most prominently on his back. His spiky was sticking up as always. Max took his time to stretch, unknowingly showing every single one of his buff muscles to Ellana. *Jeez, that man’s impressive,* Ellana thought. 

 

Max, sensing someone spying on him, quickly took his daggers out. “Who’s there!?” he yelled as Ellana rose out of the bushes with her hands up.

“You know you could’ve asked to join me back when I was at camp?” Max asked as Ellana shook her head.

“I thought you were in danger. That’s why I came here.” Ellana said as Max spread his arms out as if he was presenting himself.

“Well I’m not in danger. So I guess that’s your mission over, unless you would like to join me?”

“I think I would like that,” Ellana said with a creeping smile as she sat down on the grass next to the pond. Max sat down next to her, with all of his clothes on. 

“You never really told me what brought you down south. As far as I know, people from the Marches usually like to stay there because Ferelden is too cold for them.”

Ellana laughed. “It was part of a mission that my keeper sent me on. I was to infiltrate the Conclave and figure out what the humans were discussing. And how it would affect the elves. After the Conclave blew up and the Inquisition was formed, I received another letter from my Keeper. To inspect this human organization from afar, and seeing if they really are fighting against the Breach. I heard you all were coming to the Crossroads, so I visited to see you in action. And here we are.”

“So you killing the Templar…” Max asked.

“A result of my conscience. When those bastards were threatening to kill the children, something lit up in me, as I’m sure did in you. So I emerged from the shadows and revealed myself.”

“So are you a spy? Is that why you joined the Inquisition?” Max asked critically as Ellana turned around and looked at him solemnly.

“No. I saw how you and your companions treated everybody in the Crossroads. Many organizations claim to stand for justice, but your Inquisition is the first I’ve seen that truly stands for justice for everybody. That is why I joined. To help fight for a truly noble cause in any way I can.”

Max nodded. “I’m sorry if I seemed to accus-” he started to say as Ellana put a finger on his mouth, shushing him.

“I can understand why. You are a major member of the Inquisition. You will and should look out for it, which includes recruiting members and leading armies. Your suspicion is warranted, and even welcomed in this case. However, I’m just a person who appreciates what the Inquisition is doing to help the people, and wants to help. That is all.”

Suddenly, Ellana got up and looked around frantically. Max got up too, and grabbed his daggers.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked as Ellana shushed him again and peered around. 

“Run,” Ellana said.    
“What?”

“RUN!” Ellana yelled as a bear came charging at them, causing Max to bound away as fast as he could. 

Ellana followed him until they got to another pond. Ellana went to jump in.

“Why are you going into the pond? It just gives the bear more time to find us.” Max said as Ellana shook her head.

“The water gets rid of our scent, which can help us hide,” she replied as Max jumped in with her. After lingering for a little bit, they went into a thicket to hide.

 

“Is it gone?” Ellana asked as Max peered outside and nodded.

 

Max and Ellana walked back to camp as everyone was asleep. Well, not everyone. Grace saw Ellana wrap Max’s coat around her as she shivered. She also saw Max with his tunic off. *What have they been up to?* she thought as she went back to bed.

\--------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, you alright?” Grace asked as she went next to Ellana in her tent. She was coughing from what happened the night before.

“Yeah. Max and I were talking, when a bear suddenly attacked us. We jumped into a pond to throw off our scent, and I guess I must’ve gotten sick from that.”

“No wonder you’re coughing. I have an elfroot syrup that helps. Would you like some?”

Ellana nodded as she drank the syrup. Her throat instantly felt better, and she stopped coughing.

“How is Max? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, and I worry for him.”

“Oh he’s fine. He’s getting along really well with everybody. What can I say, he just has that personality no one can resist.”

Grace could see Ellana’s eyes. She could see how much Ellana admired Max, maybe even cared for him a little bit.

“You like him, don’t you?”

Ellana looked at Grace in surprise. “Where did you get that from?”

“I’m a rogue. I’m the definition of sneaky stabby. And I used the sneaky.”

“Right. So tell me about how much time you spend with the Commander? Hmm?” Ellana asked as she saw Grace blush.

“We never talk about this again. Deal?”

“Deal.”

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

“Herald! It’s good to see you.” The magister roared as Max walked into the tavern.

“Alexius, I take it?”

“The one and only. Sit, and we shall talk.”

Max and Alexius sat down as he ordered for drinks.

“Why are the mages allied with Tevinter? A few weeks ago, they were alone, struggling to gain legitimacy.” Max asked as he looked for any signs of deception or lies in Alexius’s face.

“They were worried about the Templars, and what they were going to do to them. So, I conscripted them into Tevinter’s army. After 5 years, they can be Imperial citizens and serve the Imperium for the better.”

“Your intervention was certainly timely,” Grand Enchanter Fiona said as she walked into the Tavern.

“I only did what was best for the mages. Now, shall we begin the talks?” Alexius asked as he called for Felix.

Felix came over, but suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. “Felix!” Alexius yelled as he ran up to him, picked him up, and walked away.

“Shall we continue these another time?”

\-------------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

"Marvelous. Any idea how that Mark works? Wait you have no idea don't you? You just wiggle your fingers and Boom! Rift closes."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Max asked.

"Ah getting ahead of myself again I see. My name is Dorian of House Pavus of Tevinter. Pleased to meet you."

"Another Tevinter. Be cautious with this one." Cassandra growled.

Dorian didn't even bat an eyebrow. "Suspicious friends you have here. But unlike most of my kinsmen, you have nothing to fear from me. I'm here to help. Also: to look dashing. That parts less difficult."

"Anyway, I believe we have more important matters to attend to. Like time falling apart at the seams."

"Time falling apart? What're you on about?"

"The Rifts you closed when you got here was odd. Did it seem like it was messing with speed, slowing you down, making you faster? That's because it was messing with time. Alexius is using time magic."

Solas laughed. "Time magic? Many have tried to achieve such power. None have succeeded."

"I helped develop this magic. I know what I'm talking about. Alexius is playing around with it. And it's unraveling the world. He altered time to get here before you did. He's up to something."

"I'm gonna need more to go than just 'magical time control, go with it!'. Preferably a lot more." Max said.

"How about a simple explanation?" Felix said as he walked into the Chantry.

"I'll take it."

"My father's joined a cult that's obsessed with you and your Mark. They call themselves the Venatori. And they are bent on keeping you from closing the Breach."

"What a cheery bunch." Varric said.

"And here I didn't get Alexius anything."

Dorian grinned. "Get him a fruit basket. Everybody loves those."

"So what now? We tell Alexius no and we all live happily ever after?"

"Afraid it'll take a bit more that that. Alexius wants to meet you in the castle a week from now. He's planning to do something bad. If you confront him about the Venatori then, say it's madness, I'll help you and maybe he will change his mind about it all."

"Why not? I came here to get the mages help and I'm not leaving till I got them."

Dorian nodded. "Right then. I'm gonna lay low till you are ready to meet with my old mentor. If he knows I'm here, he might do some snooping."

Dorian turned and began walking out a side door. Then he paused. "Hey Felix, try not to get yourself killed alright."

"There are worse things besides dying, Dorian." Felix said before leaving as well.

"That's not ominous at all." Max said.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Max turned around and jumped. Leliana smiled at him. She was wearing a priests clothing.

"Sweet Maker! Don't sneak up on me like that Leliana! You already scare me as it is. What are you doing here dressed up as a priestess?"

"I figured you might need some help. Arl Teagan is an old friend of mine and I thought it would help if I was there for negotiations. So I followed you here and did some spying. It appears that magister kicked Teagan out when he arrived with a large number of Tevinter guards. I overheard your conversation with that man Dorian and Felix and I already sent word to Haven. In a few days, several of our agents will arrive and help us get inside the castle, eliminate the guards and check for more surprises from this Alexius. I suggest we lay low for until they arrive. I have a plan that will get us into the castle unnoticed. We can talk about it later."

"Anybody have the munchies?" Ellana asked.

"Maker, yes." Both Max and Grace replied in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support. It feels good that my work isn't garbage and people like it. Hope you enjoy reading.


	8. Spending Time in Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just casual conversations between party members

Max walked up to Cullen to ask something but stopped in surprise. He was looking at Grace, who was walking out of the Chantry to who knows where. But Max noticed that Cullen looked a bit too intently. So intently that he jumped when Max tapped his shoulders.

“Herald, it’s uh, good to see you,” Cullen quickly said as Max also noticed the blush on his face.

“You have a thing for my sister, don’t you?” Max asked as Cullen quickly shook his head.

“Nope. Nope. Absolutely not. We are just friends. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less,” Cullen replied as he scratched the back of his head, something Max did too whenever he was nervous.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Max said. “If you have something for her, I can set you up.”

“No. Something must happen naturally. If she likes me, she likes me. If she doesn’t like me, there’s nothing anybody can do about it.”

\---------------------------------------------------T---x-------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Grace,” Ellana said as Grace walked into her cabin. Ellana had been sick, probably from the bear incident. After they came back, Ellana was out cold for 2 days, and it was Max who had taken care of her, giving her poultices and other herbs to help her. Of course, she didn’t mention that to her.

“How are you feeling?” Grace asked as she sat down next to Ellana, checking her temperature and giving her the elfroot potion.

“Much better, but  still bad. How about you?” Ellana asked.

“I’m good as well.”

“Grace. I need somebody to talk to. Somebody to listen to me rant,” Ellana said as Grace nodded and sat down. 

Ellana went on to rant about how she missed her clan and her family, how cold it is at Haven, how miserable she felt, and other things like that. Grace could also catch a few statements about how wonderful and nice Max was. 

“You care for my brother, don’t you?” Grace asked as Ellana suddenly blushed.

“I like him yes, but not in that way. And I don’t think it’s even allowed. He’s human, and I’m Dalish,” she replied as Grace smirked at her.

“Look, it’s obvious that you care for him. I’m his sister. I know when he has admirers or haters.”

“Oh really. So tell me about how much time you spent with the Commander. Hmm?” Ellana asked back as Grace blushed.

“Again, we do not reveal this to any others. Deal?”

“Deal.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------

Ellana was at the tavern, drinking what Sera had called “good spirit” when it actually tasted like piss mixed with sweat. She was there when Max walked in.

Max noticed Ellana and sat down across from her. He drew a breath. “How are you feeling? I know that the incident must’ve placed a toll on your body,” he asked as Ellana smiled.

“I’m feeling much better now, thanks to the potions and elfroot. By the way, when I was out cold, were you the one taking care of me?” she asked as Max quickly turned around and ordered for the barman to bring ale.

“Yes. Is that a problem? If so, I can stop,” Max said as the barman set the mug of ale on the table and walked away.

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s just a bit strange,” Ellana said as she profusely shook her head.

“How so?”

“Well, the Dalish perceived the  _ shemlen  _ as tricksters and bullies. We were always told that no  _ shemlen  _ would ever be kind to us. All they do is swindle people and fight wars for no reasons.”

“What’s a  _ shemlen _ ?” Max asked as he struggled to pronounce the word.

“Oh right. It’s what we call humans. We have names for all the species. You are a  _ shemlen _ . Varric is a  _ Durgen’len _ . I am  _ elvhen _ . And it keeps going.”

“Well, one thing I can tell you is that I will never even think about swindling anyone or fighting wars for no reason. And I will always be kind to you,” Max said as Cassandra walked into the tavern and whispered something into Max’s ear.

“Well, I have to go. Duty calls, am I right?” he said as he got up and left Ellana a lot to think about.


	9. The Dark Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's going to be a bit emotional, so just watch out.

“So what’s the plan again?” Max asked sheepishly as Leliana smiled at him.

“Here it is. The plan is for my agents to infiltrate the castle using an old escape route the family uses. In fact, the Warden and I used it when Redcliffe was besieged by undead. But anyway, the Herald will take two others and enter the castle normally to talk to the magister. Play into his game. Dorian will help once any magical traps have been bypassed. While you talk to him, my agents will take out his lackeys. Remember Alexius has spread word of your deeds so much so that I am certain he plans to kill you.”

“Would you look at that? I have some fans from Tevinter too. Now I only need people from the Anderfels, and I can finally say I’m a true celebrity!” Max exclaimed as everybody laughed.

“Well, let’s get on with it!” Ellana yelled as she, Max and Varric walked through the forest to Redcliffe castle.

“Here goes nothing,” Varric said as they walked through the gate and encountered a butler-looking like man.

“You were told to come alone,” he said as Max smiled.

“These are my advisors. They come with me whenever I have to make an important decision.”

“Very well, follow me,” the butler said as Max and his group followed him inside.

They walked up some stairs and into a central throne room. On the throne against the far wall sat Alexius with Felix standing beside him. Fiona stood a little apart.

"My friend! It's so good to see you!" Alexius beamed with happiness. But it was short lived as he saw that Max has not come alone. "And your associates, yes."

"Let's get straight to business, shall we?" Max asked.

"Yes let's not delay this any longer than necessary. You need mages to help close the Breach and I have them. Let's talk about what I get in exchange."

Max cocked his head to the side and feigned an innocent look. "I don't know about you but I'd rather talk about time magic."

"I don't know what your talking about." Alexius said quickly.

Felix stepped forward. "He knows everything father."

Alexius stared at his son in shock. "Felix? What have you done?"

"He knows about the Venatori father. He knows everything. Let the southern mages fight the Breach and let's go home."

Alexius held his sons shoulders. "No. He can save you! He told me there's a way!"

"Who's 'he'?" Max asked.

"The Elder One! He has power you cannot fathom!"

Felix shook his head. "Listen to yourself father. Do you know what you sound like?"

"He sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliche people make us out to be." Dorian said as he stepped out from behind a pillar.

"Dorian." Alexius scowled. "I gave you the chance to be a part of this. You turned me down. The Elder One will rise no matter what you do."

"Blah blah blah. My cults better than yours. I've heard it a thousand times." Max said.

"No you haven't." His sister said with the barest trace of a smile.

Dorian chuckled. "Well it's a chance for the Imperium to one up that whole starting the Blight thing."

Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw one of Alexius's guards fall down with an arrow protruding from his neck. *Lelianas here. Time to keep mister crazy pants talking.*

Max took a step forward. "What's this Elder One plan to do exactly?"

Alexius turned his angry gaze at Max. "He will raise the Imperium from its own ashes. We will rule from the Boeric Ocean to the Frozen Seas once again."

"Who does this guy think he is? Some kind of God? Cuz that's what it's gonna take to take over all of Thedas like you say."

"He's promised me everything. All I have to do in exchange is get rid of you. Guards, take these maggots to the cells."

It was quiet as nothing happened. Max laughed as he gestured to Alexius's guards who were all dead with Inquisition Agents standing over them."

"Your men are dead and your magical traps have been taken care of. Were we not supposed to do that?" Max said with a wry smile.

Outraged, Alexius brought out a flashing necklace. "You are a mistake! You never should have existed!" He said as he casted his spell. Dorian shouted "No!" And then a blindingly white flash enveloped them.

  
  


Max groaned as he came to. He stood up, his head pounding. He felt warm and fuzzy for reasons he didn't know. He looked around. He was in some kind of jail room. It was a big enough cell with the doors on the other side of the room. Water flooded the floor and red lyrium coated the walls.

"Fascinating." Dorian said from beside him.

"Dorian, that you?"

Dorian lit his staff up, illuminating the room. "In the flesh."

Max rubbed his temple. "Ugh what happened?"

"Alexius used time magic. He probably meant to erase us from time altogether but I countered his attack with my own spell. I believe we are in the future."

"Well if that's true then where the daisies are we in the future!" Max said, starting to freak out.

"Calm down. It's not so bad. I recognize this place. It's Redcliffe Castles prison. I did scope out the castle before we confronted Alexius." Dorian paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Hmm...if we are still in the castle," he snapped his fingers. "Ah! It isn't. It's not simply where but when! Your surprise for him must have caught him off guard. He cast us through time before he was ready. Amazing."

" Traveled through time... Oh when we get back to our time I am so drinking myself under the table."

"First we must get back to our timeline."

"I take it you have some ideas on that?"

"Of course I do. They are wonderful ideas. Like little jewels. But first I say we focus on finding a way out of this prison."

"That I can do."

Dorian raised an eye. "You can find a way out of here? Let alone pick the lock on the door?"

Max grinned. "I'm a dashing rogue. Escaping prisons is like our signature move." Max knelt in front of the lock. He rubbed his hands together and took off his right shoe. "Um why are you taking off your shoe?" Dorian asked as he watched over Max's shoulder.

"Just wait." Max ordered. He shook the shoe until a small lock pick fell out. He fitted the lock pick into the slit and moved it around experimentally.

"Why do you have a lock pick in your shoe?"

"It's an emergency lock pick I keep just in case I need a lock picked. Never leave home without it."

"Well isn't that nifty of you."

Max shrugged. "I'm a nifty guy. There we go." He said as the lock fell to the ground. The door swung open as the lock fell. Max put the lock pick back in his shoe then put his shoe back on as he stood up and bowed. "Ta da!"

"Now what?"

"Now comes the easy part: finding an exit."

The two quietly made their way through the prison passing cell after cell of red lyrium.

"Love what Alexius has done with the place."

"When I was looking around the castle when I arrived, the place was littered with the tackiest paintings of dogs I've ever seen. This is not an improvement."

As they walked they began to hear sniffling. "Hear that? It sounds like crying." Dorian said.

"Isn't me. I swear."

"I'm serious. It's getting louder."

They turned a corner and Max recoiled in shock. Fiona was locked in a cell, with red lyrium encasing her body. She was softly crying into her lyrium covered arms.

"By the Maker, is that you Fiona?"

She turned her head to look at them. She clearly doubted what she was seeing. "No it can't be! Your alive!"

"Why wouldn't we?"

Dorian interrupted before she could say something. "Do you have the date? It's very important."

"9:42 Harvestmere."

"A whole year has passed! I must have missed out on a lot during that year."

"Listen, Alexius sent us forward in time. If we can get to him, I can reverse the spell and we can go back to our own time."

"It's not Alexius you should be worried about. It's The Elder One. After Alexius got rid of you, The Elder One destroyed the Inquisition and took over. He became a god. He rules everywhere!"

"Shit."

Fiona scowled. "Your spymaster Leliana is here somewhere. Find her. She can explain in more detail if she's still alive. There's only three people still alive that was in it. Leliana and two others. The man and woman you had with you when Alexius sent you through time."

*Varric and Ellana.*

Max suddenly got really dizzy. He staggered.

"Where?" He asked quietly.

"Somewhere in the prison. I don't know exactly where but I've overheard some of the guards talk about how fun it was to torture them."

"Then it'll be fun to kill the guards. Dorian, let's go. Fiona, stay here and keep doing what your doing. We'll make things right, I promise."

"I pray you do."

Max and Dorian left her to go look for the others. It took them half an hour just to find where Varric was being kept. When they did finally find him, Max almost wished they hadn't.

They had found Varric sadly humming a tone nobody knew. Red Lyrium surrounded him, distorting his voice and his entire body. When Max and Dorian approached the cell, Varric jumped back in surprise.

“Holy Andraste’s knickers, you’re alive! How?” he yelled.

“Alexius sent us forward in time. We are here to stop him,” Dorian replied as Varric shook his head.

“You don’t understand. Alexius is not the threat. The Elder One is. Know the Hero of Ferelden. He crushed her in two like she was a twig. The Champion? Hawke couldn’t do anything. He’s just too powerful,” he said as Max and Dorian grimaced.

Max unlocked the cell door to free Varric as the three of them went to find where Max’s sister was.

 

“Oh, that felt good,” Max heard someone say as he signaled Varric and Dorian to hide. 

He spotted three guards dragging an elven woman in tatters. *Ellana,* Max thought as he fought his tears.

Max signalled Varric to shoot the guards. After all three were killed, Max ran and helped Ellana up. 

“Shit!” Ellana yelled as Max tried to pick her up. “Falon’din, why didn’t you guide this soul to peace? The dead should never come back. Ever.”

“It’s alright. It’s just me. I’m alive. Alexius sent us forward in time with time magic. I’m not dead yet,” Max replied, as Ellana realized that was the truth.

She suddenly ran and hugged him tightly. So tightly that Max’s ribs were almost crushed. 

When she started crying, Max stroked her chestnut hair to calm her down. 

“It’s alright. It’s over. I’m here. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,” Max said.

Ellana let go as she wiped her tears and grabbed a sword from the Venatori guards.

“Let’s go.”

  
  


Max led the way as they gradually climbed higher towards what Max guessed was the exit to the prison. Unfortunately as they rounded a corner, they came face to face with a two guards. The    lead guard jumped back in surprise. "Blood of the Elder One! Where'd they come from?" The guard next to him said "Who cares where'd they come from! They are trying to escape, get them!" "Oh for the love of-." Max shouted as he tackled the first guard to the ground. He wrestled the man's weapon out of his hands and tossed it aside. He heard a shriek as the other guard fell to the floor lifeless. Ellana had stabbed him through his throat with her sword

He dragged the first ground up and put a dagger against his throat. "Where is Alexius?" He asked. The man spat in Max's face. Max ignored the spit sliding down his face and said calmly. "Now that wasn't very nice. All I asked was if you knew where Alexius is. Now I'm going to ask you again and do try to be civil about answering. Where is Alexius?"

"If I tell you do you promise to not kill me?" The man asked nervously. "Sure. I mean we will probably knock you out but we won't kill you for answering a simple question."

“NEVER!” The guard yelled as he suddenly brought a knife out and slit his throat.

“Well, shit,” Dorian said as Max shook his head. "Not the time Dorian. Come on. Let's just find Leliana, find Alexius, and get the hell back to our own time."

They left the guards remains behind. Pretty soon, they heard talking. They rounded a corner and heard Leliana cry out. Max creeped on a door from which the noise was coming from and listened.

"There's no use in this defiance little bird. There's no one left for you to protect. The Elder One needs answers." An unknown voice said. "Then I guess he'll get used to disappointment." The sound of a slap could be heard from the room as well as Leliana crying out in pain. "How did Trevelyn know of the sacrifice at the Temple? Answer!" The voice ordered.

"Never." Another slap. Max decided this was enough. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside just in time to see a Vint grab a knife from a table and place it under Leliana's throat as she hung by her arms suspended by chains. "You will break." The Vint said. "I will die first." Leliana said before she saw Max standing at the doorway. "Or you will." She said as the Vint turned around to see who was at the door. That choice proved fatal. Leliana wrapped her legs around the man's throat and squeezed. The two struggled for a moment before Leliana snapped the man's neck with her legs.

The man crumpled to the ground. Max hurried over to her and searched the Vints body for a key to her shackles. Finding it, he then unlocked her and helped her gain her balance back.

"You’re alive!" Leliana said. "Yup. Remind me never to get on your bad side. It's alright. The bad man won't hurt you anymore."

"Forget alright. You need to do better than alright. You need to end this. Do you have weapons?" She asked.

Max nodded.

"Good. You'll need them. She went over to a box and rummaged through it, pulling a bow out.

"The magisters probably in his chambers."

Dorian stepped inside with a curious look on his face. "You aren't curious as to how we got here?"

"No."

"Alexius sent us forward in time. This, his victory, this Elder One, it was never meant to be."

"I'm sorry for everything you suffered Leliana." Max said.

"I didn't suffer. The world did. And mages wonder why people fear them. No one should have this power. I suffered. The whole world suffered. It was real. This is all just pretend to you: some future you hope to destroy. It's your future but my present. I lost everything."

"So no one stopped Alexius and the Elder One? What about The Warden?"

Leliana's sad face grew even sadder. "Dead. Lyna is dead. She died fighting the Elder One. The same goes for anyone who stood up against him. We have to get you back to your present. It's the only way any of us survive."

Leliana stormed out of the room and through another door leaving the others no choice but to follow. They followed her through several long passageways until they suddenly came walked outside.

"Well, shit." Was all Max could say as he stared up at the Breach which now completely filled the sky.

"After you 'died', there was no one to stop it from spreading." Leliana explained.

"It's everywhere!" Dorian exclaimed.

"Creators help us." Ellana said.

They continued until they arrived at a set of large brass doors. Max turned to Leliana. "Is this his throne room?"

She nodded.

"Then let's introduce ourselves to the man who destroyed the world." Max said before slamming the doors open. Alexius, on the other side of the room, didn't even flinch.

"Hiya Alexius it's the Herald. Someone called for a rat exterminator?"

Alexius sighed as he turned around to face them.

"Was it worth it? All this death and pain?" Max asked.

"It should have been. But it doesn't matter now."

"You can give us the amulet. We’ll set things right again."

"It's no use. He is coming to kill me. I knew I hadn't killed you. My final failure. Now he comes for me for you for us all."

Alexius's head snapped to the left as Leliana picked up a blighted Felix, a knife at his throat.

"Makers breath! That's Felix? What did you do to him?" Dorian asked, shocked.

"I saved him Dorian!" Alexius said, face twisted in fear as Leliana gripped the knife closer to his son's throat.

"Don't harm him!" Alexius begged.

Max nodded when he looked at Leliana. *Give him a merciful death,*

Leliana stared grimly at him. “Now you know how it feels." She said before slitting Felix's throat.

"No! Noooo!" Alexius cried out. Using magic, he threw Leliana across the room.

He cried a battle cry. "I'll kill you!" But then a sword protruded from his chest.. He screamed in pain then coughed up blood as he staggered. Then he just keeled over dead.

"Not if I kill you first." Ellana said.

Dorian looked at her with a mix of anger and fear.

"A sad way to go. He wanted to die, didn't her? All the lies the justifications he told himself. He lost Felix long ago and didn't even notice. Oh Alexius."

Max gripped Dorian by the shoulders. "This Alexius was too far gone. But the one in our time can still be saved."

"True. Hand me the amulet and give me an hour to figure out the spell. The it's off to present."

"An hour? You must go now!" Leliana barked.

As if in accordance with her words, a tremor shook the ground. Max could hear the shriek of a Terror demon in the distance but also something closer and far more fearsome.

"What in the Maker is that?"

"The Elder One." Leliana answered.

"You know how sometimes you ask something you don't actually want answered? Well that was one of those times."

"Go. You have as much time as I have arrows. We will hold them off for as long as we can."

"Right. Time to kill." Varric said before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Max didn't even have time to argue. Dorian dragged him to the back of the room and started working on the amulet. Ellana ran up to Max and placed an amulet with a halla inscribed on it in his hands.

"What's this?" He asked.

"A reminder. I'm sorry. I should have put more faith in you. You were born for this." She hugged him then. Not as a friend would hug another goodbye but as a lover would hug their love. She then promptly kissed him. The kiss lasted several blissful seconds before Dorian coughed.

She broke the kiss and Max went to speak but she put a gentle finger to his lips, shushing him. "Now go save the world Maxie. For everyone. For me." She then rushed the demons and Venatori that had breached the doors. A Shade threw Varric’s lifeless body to the side. Max cried out his name. He made a move to go to him but Dorian grabbed him and kept him still. "You move, and we all die!" He shouted at him.

Leliana shot arrow after arrow at the oncoming demons but eventually she ran out. An arrow went through her shoulder and she cried out in pain. But she didn't let an arrow stop her. She used the bow like a sword, better than Max ever could. But numbers overwhelmed her. Venatori swarmed her and the last thing she did before one cut her throat, was look at Max with desperate eyes. Max's gaze went to Ellana as a Terror slashed her across the chest. Ellana mouthed one word before falling. Maxie. Max screamed in anguish as she died. Then, a blinding green light illuminated the room. And Max was back in the throne room, with Alexius on his knees in defeat.

Max grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and held him up. Alexius actually hung a few centimeters off the ground. "You murderer!" Max snarled.

He felt someone pulling him away from the madman who was responsible for his loved ones deaths. He swung around and recoiled. "What's wrong with you! He surrendered!" Varric said.

Max quickly backed up confused. "No you killed him and then-." His gaze swept over Ellana who was looking very worried.

"No no no. Wait what? What happened? I saw you..."

Dorian placed a comforting hand on Max's shoulder. "Calm down Max. It's over. Alexius is alive and nothing overly bad has happened." Then in a hushed tone Dorian said, "We can talk about the time traveling thing at a later date. Otherwise, well just confuse everyone."

Max took a deep breath and nodded.

He turned his attention back to Alexius. "You'll have to do better than that."

Alexius frowned. "Alright you win. There's no use extending this charade." He turned to face Felix as he he helped his father up. "Felix."

"I'll be fine father."

"But you'll die!"

"Everyone dies." Felix said as several Inquisition agents took them away into custody.

Dorian rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, glad that's over with."

The doors to the throne room slammed open and a dozen armed guards marched in. They stood at attendance as a blonde haired woman stepped in wearing a simple white dress.

"Or not." Dorian muttered to himself.

Fiona gasped.

The blonde haired woman stepped over to those present. "Grand Enchanter Fiona."

"Queen Anora!"

"Wait Anora as in the queen of Ferelden?" Max whispered to Dorian. He shrugged. "I guess."

"When I granted mages sanctuary, I thought I made myself clear that they were not to force my people out of their homes." Anora said angrily.

"Your Majesty, let me assure you, we never intended any of this."

"Your intentions ceased to matter when my people were threatened!" Anora snapped.

"I am rescinding my offer of sanctuary. You and your followers will leave at once." Anora ordered.

"But...we have hundreds who need our protection. Where will we go?" Fiona asked.

Max cleared his throat. "I should point out that we did come here to get the mages to help us close the Breach."

"And what are the terms of this arrangement?"

Dorian chuckled. "Hopefully better than what Alexius have you. The Inquisition is better than that, right?"

Fiona sighed. "It seems we have little choice but to accept whatever you offer."

"Does joining the Inquisition as allies work for you?"

"I would take that offer. I doubt you will get a better one from me." Anora said.

Fiona bowed deeply. "Thank you for giving us this chance. I promise you will not regret it. We will leave for Haven at once." Fiona said, obliviously relieved that the Inquisition didn't force the mages to work with them.

"We will do what we can to restore peace to Thedas. You have my word."

Fiona bowed once more than left to tell all her fellow mages.

He breathed shakily. "Come on. I suppose we should go report back to Leliana and then return to Haven. I've had enough of Redcliffe to last a year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to check out my tumblr. fanfictionnerd456.tumblr.com


	10. Old and New Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I had a lot of work to do, and not enough time to write this. Hope you enjoy!

Max couldn’t stop thinking about how Ellana had kissed him. Maker that moment was magical. It would have been even more magical if they had done it at a happy time, instead of the depressing future where the Elder one ruled.

 

“Max,” Ellana said as she entered his cabin to him fingering the amulet he got from the future. He quickly hid it, and Ellana thankfully did not notice.

“What happened in the dark future? One moment we saw a flash, and the next moment you come  back clawing at Alexius. What happened?”

“Yes, I would also like to know,” Grace said as she entered the cabin.

“Sit down, and I’ll tell you,” Max said as they both sat on the bed.

 

“Here’s how it went. Alexius sent me and Dorian into the future. There, the Elder One had taken over…” he started as Ellana and Grace looked at him with a blank face.

“Right. The Elder one was the leader of the Venatori. You know, the crazy people who want to kill me?” Max explained as they both nodded.

“Anyways,  he completely destroyed the inquisition. And I mean completely. Like, Hero killing and Champion slaying kind of completely. When I reached, it was Ellana, Varric and Fiona who were left. Fiona was almost dead with red lyrium completely corrupted her. Varric was singing a jaunty tune with lyrium killing him too. And Ellana…” Max said as he stared into the distance. He remembered every single moment. She had been raped, abused by her captors. When Max rescued her, she was in tatters. 

“MAX!” Grace shouted as she shaked him. “WAKE UP!”

“My bad, my bad,” Max said as he shook his head to clear his head.

“What happened to me?” Ellana asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Not now, please,” Max pleaded as Grace gestured for him to continue.

“Then when we fought Alexius, we instantly defeated him. And the Elder One attacked. You and Varric, you gave your lives to help me and Dorian,” Max said as tears were threatening to fall from his face. Grace nodded and hugged him for a few seconds, then left. Ellana sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it some more?” she asked. Max looked at her. It was always easier to talk to her than other people. Mostly because she walked in on him having those nightmares. And because she was so caring. *She cares about me more than certain people from my own family*. Ellana, interpreting his thinking as mentally breaking down, hugged tightly. “Hey it’s okay. You can talk to me. I’m here for you.”

“How do you recover from that? Losing one lover and close to losing another o-” Max asked as he suddenly stopped. He almost referred to Ellana as his lover. As far as he knew, the Lavellan clan were tolerant of humans than most, but they were still Dalish. They still preserved their history and looked at the humans as evil. It wouldn’t be possible. Not between them.

“What were you saying?”

‘I was just asking how someone deals with this. I don’t know how to, and it’s eating away at me.”

“I have a story for you, if you want to hear. You see, the reason why I was in the Hinterlands in the first place was that I was on the run. My clan was near Kirkwall, and it was my sister and I. She was the Keeper’s first, the keeper being the leader of the clan, and the First being the keeper’s apprentice. We were exploring the forest, trying to gain herbs and meat. Then templars spotted us. Before we could even do anything, one had knocked me out cold. And from what I could gather, they had…” Ellana said as her eyes threatened to burst with tears. 

“They had raped her. Forced themselves on her. All I could hear when I woke up was how they had taught a sufficient lesson to a knife-ear apostate. I killed them in anger and vengeance, and ran away to draw them away from my clan.” she finished.

Max looked at her in a new light. *I’m not the only one going through shit,* he thought as he put his hand on hers. She did not fail to notice that, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry if I make you feel like you can’t say anything. The only two people I could actually talk to were Grace, and now you. I know you have your own struggles, and you can talk to me if you need to,” Max said.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to say that story to tell you that you aren’t alone, and that there are other people who are going through the same struggles.”

Max just sat there, enjoying the moment, with Ellana leaning on his shoulders, looking at the setting sun, when someone knocked on the door.

“Herald, you have a message. To go to the war room.”

“I will be there shortly. Thank you.” Max said. “And thank you to you too. Your story really helped me get through my grief, and I truly appreciate it.”

“Now will you tell me what happened to me?”

“Later. As you can see, I have a lot of work to do.”


	11. Sealing the Breach

“The best of the mages have already headed out to the Temple." Cullen was saying. "They will meet you there along with Solas."

“You should head there now,” Josephine added.

“And here I thought, I could take a nap, eat some food, go out hunting,” Max said with a grin on his face.

“What do they say, no rest for the wicked?”

He set off with Ellana in tow. She had insisted she go with him. And Max wasn't about to refuse request from a lady. As they trudged through the snow up to the Temple, the Mark flared painfully sending Max stumbling to the ground.

"Herald?" Ellana asked, worried.

"I'm fine. I guess it knows what's going to happen."

"You'll be fine."

"And how do you know that? The blasted thing has been killing me slowly with each Rift I close. And the Breach is the mother of all Rifts. Who's to say it won't kill me when I close it."

"I say it won't."

"But how can you be certain?"

Ellana looked him in the eyes. "Because the world still needs Andraste's Herald. Doesn’t matter whether they’re human, elf, dwarf or Qunari. We need you."

She had almost said because I need you but she stopped herself in time.

"Great. It's nice to know I'm needed."

They arrived at the Temple shortly afterwards. The mages were already all set up and ready to go. Solas and Cassandra were waiting for Max under the Breach.

He nodded to Max as he walked over. "Good morning Herald." He said calmly.

"Beautiful day out huh." Max said with a small grin.

"Agreed."

Cassandra placed a hand on Max's shoulder. "Are you ready?" She asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

She turned to the others gathered.

"Mages!"

Solas raised his hands. "Focus past the Herald! Let his will draw from you!" He yelled.

Max faced the Breach. He raised his hand and immediately felt the Mark flare up. Tendrils of green light shot out of his hand and pulled towards the Breach. Pain traveled down from his hand throughout the rest of his body. He clenched his teeth, determined to close it. He slowly advanced forward. With each step, it felt like the weight of the sky crushed down upon him. The Breach fought against him, trying to overwhelm him with pain. He slowed. His head was swimming and he felt like his legs would give out on him any second. But he kept going. The Mark erupted with even more pain. Max cried out and sank to one knee, desperately holding on. The Breach rumbled overhead.

Max thought of how everyone was depending on him. If he didn't close it no one else could. He thought of everyone counting on him to do it. And he was not going to fail them. He'd come too far to be beaten now. He'd survived an explosion that leveled a mountaintop and killed thousands. He'd traveled through time for Makers sake! He was not going to let a hole that looked like a woman's nether region best him. With every ounce of strength he had left in his body, he was able to rise from his kneeling position and keep going. He was vaguely aware of people cheering his name. But their voices seemed so far away. He struggled to take two more steps then one more. With his last step, he thrusted his hand out. He screamed in pain as he felt the Mark do its thing. Tendrils of smoke curled off him and the Breach thundered. A green light shot out of his palm and struck the Breach. With a loud boom, the Breach exploded. The force of the blast sent everyone nearby flying.

Ellana shook her head, dazed. She stood up and through the dust, saw the Herald kneeling on the ground. Others got up slowly and Ellana pushed her way past them as she ran to Max, desperate to find out if he was okay. He rose shakily to his feet.

*He's alright! Thank the Creators!*

Overcome with emotion, Ellana hugged him. Too tired to do anything else, Max just stood there looking up at the sky as the mages cheered.

The Breach was no longer in the sky.

For the rest of the day, the Inquisition celebrated what it had accomplished. Everyone was drinking and dancing and otherwise having a good time. They had done it. They had closed the Breach. It was a great victory and everyone was happy. Just not Max. He was a little upset at all the celebrations to say the least. The others in the Inquisition didn't have to go through what he went through. All that pain. He could barely walk after he closed the Breach. He had to lean on Ellana the whole way back to Haven. Because of that, he was embarrassed. The entire Inquisition was waiting for him in front of Haven when he returned. He doubted that they saw him as a hero as he stumbled past them using Ellana as support. He was ashamed that they had seen him like that.

On his return, the inner circle celebrated with him until after dinner when he excused himself and went outside. He needed some air. He wasn't used to being the hero. He was used to being the disappointment. All the praises and pats on the back was just too much for him. He was watching some of the civilians on a ledge dance and sing when Ellana came up from behind him. He still very much remembered the feeling her hug had given him. 

"Solas confirms the heavens are scarred but calm. The Breach is gone. We've many questions still lingering but this was a victory. Word of your heroism has spread far." She said with a grin.

"Don't they know I fell into this? Almost literally."

"Yes but we needed you. We still do. Now that the Breach is closed, we can focus on why and how it was opened in the first place. Strange days. And more to come."

Max took a deep breath. "Ellana? About that hug you gave me." Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by Cassandra who ran up to them.

"There you are! I have some bad news and some good news. Good news is the Inquisition is famous. Bad news is that I saw a darkspawn nearby. A very powerful one."

"So? What's one darkspawn?"

Suddenly there were several screams as torches appeared on the mountains across the lake. “Perhaps you missed the powerful part?”

"Shit." Max thought. *When Cassandra’s engaged in this kind of banter, that’s when things are truly screwed up.*

There were thousands of them. He could see the glint of weapons in the moonlight. He heard Cullen's shouting. "Forces approaching! To arms! To arms!"

"What the? We must get to the gates!" Ellana said before rushing off. Max turned and ran into Varric. "What the hell is happening?" He asked the dwarf.

"No idea but we should get down to the gates."

"Where are the others?"

"Getting their weapons. They'll meet us."

Max nodded and ran off, Varric and Ellana following close behind.

Cullen, Leliana, Josephine, and Cassandra were already at the gates.

As Max ran up he looked to Cullen. "Cullen?"

"It's a massive force, the bulk over the mountains." Reported Cullen.

"Under what banner?" Josephine asked.

"None."

"None?"

The rest of the inner circle ran up.

The gates shook as something slammed into it. The group readied their weapons. A second passed before a voice was heard on the other side.

"I can't one in unless you open!" It sounded like a young boys voice. Max pushed the gates open and stepped out. A large Venatori with a giant battle ax loomed before him. "Oops wrong house." Max said. Suddenly the Vint grunted and fell facedown. A small young man with a bloody knife stood behind him. The rest of the group followed Max out of the gates. So did a number of soldiers. The young man stepped up to Max. "I'm Cole. I came to warn you. To help. There are people coming to hurt you. You probably already know this."

"What? What is this? What's going on!" Max asked.

The man leaned forward. "The Templars come to kill you."

"That's the Orders response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly!" Cullen said, outraged.

"The Red Templars went to the Elder One. You know him? He knows you. You took his mages." The man pointed to a ledge halfway up one of the mountains. "There."

On it was a dark haired man with red glowing armor and a large sword. And appearing out of the darkness next to him was some sort of mangled humanoid creature. It looked human enough in stature except that it was a good head taller than even Bull. It had long skinny arms and long talon like hands. It wore a brown skirt looking thing. It had a weird slate thing on its jaws. And it seemed like ordered bore right through Max. It was almost like he could feel the things hatred for him.

"I know that man. Samson. But this Elder One..." Cullen said.

"He's very angry that you took his mages." Cole said.

Max shook his head and turned to his Commander.

"Cullen give me a plan. Anything!"

"Haven is not a fortress. If we are to win this, we must control the battle. Get out there, use trebuchets, use everything you have." He turned to the soldiers. "Inquisition! With the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!" He shouted as the men surged forward towards the oncoming Templars.

Bull cracked his knuckles. "Let em come."

Max shook his head. "Not this time Bull. I want Sera, Dorian, Cassandra, Solas, Vivienne, Blackwall, the Chargers, and you to protect the civilians and help get them to the Chantry where it's safest."

Bull snorted angrily. "I'm staying here Boss."

"Bull that's an order. You have the most experience in battles so your in charge. Make sure everyone gets there safely."

Bulls demeanor changed. He suddenly got very serious. He nodded. "Gotcha Boss." Then he shouted to the others. "Right, you heard the man! Our sole purpose now is to get people to safety. So let's move it! We got a job to do so let's get it done!"

Sera saluted. "Aye aye sir!"

Ellana unslung her shield and her sword. Max caught her eye and she nodded. She was ready to defend these people.

Max took his daggers out of their straps and twirled them. Grace pulled his bow off his shoulder and nocked an arrow to the string. "Battle plan?" She asked.

Max grinned. "I only have one battle plan: improvise and see what happens."

Grace laughed. "I like it. Most of our plans usually end up the same way. Well what are we waiting for? We got bad guys to kill."

Max led the way towards the soldiers that had already charged. Grace and Ellana right behind him. Varric shot bolt after bolt at any Templar that looked to be gaining the upper hand against a soldier of the Inquisition. Max actually passed the soldiers as he ran at the Templars.

Except the Templars were no longer Templars. They were some twisted creatures now. They still wore the Templar armor and skirts but their torsos were riddled with red lyrium. It protruded from their bunched up backs and mangled their faces. They roared and spat lyrium out of their mouths.

Max hacked and slashed any Templar that got close. Ellana helped bolster the soldiers defense and Grace did her own thing. With anyone else, Max would have gotten angry with him for doing the whole lone wolf thing but again this was Grace. His sister. Max knew he could control anybody but his sister. So, he left her be..

The fight was over in moments. The Inquisition soldiers had only had four casualties. An agent fired the trebuchet they were guarding at the sea of men and torches advancing on the town.

"They felt that! Get to the other trebuchet Herald, it isn't firing!" The agent yelled. "We'll hold the buggers off!"

Max raised a dagger and said "Come on fellas! Let's go get that trebuchet fired."

His group ran past the forge and to the other trebuchet placed by the lake. As they neared, Max could see the silhouettes of Red Templars.

"Guess that explains why the trebuchet isn't firing." Varric said.

"How do we get the trebuchet centered?" Ellana asked.

"Right here's the plan."

"Improvise?" Grace said.

Max nodded. "Improvise."

Max made a snowball and chucked it at one of the Templars, hitting it square in its ugly face. It screeched at the group. Max waved at the Templars.

“That is certainly a creative way to approach things,” Ellana said as she smiled.

Max shrugged and ran at the Templars. He killed one then shouted, "Keep them off me, I'm gonna try to fire the trebuchet!" He ducked under one horror then grinned as he heard it fall down with a bolt in its forehead. He would have to tell Varric thanks later. He pulled the lever until the it was leveled and center. "Fire in the bad guys!" He yelled as the trebuchet fired, hurling a boulder high above the bulk of the endless sea of attackers, causing a mini avalanche to fall upon the army. Several hundred of the Elder things men were lost under tons of snow and rock.

Max could hear the Inquisitions cheers as they witnessed what their Herald had done. Varric slapped Max on the back. "That's what I'm talking about!" The dwarf said with an idiotic grin. His grin soon vanished as he looked up into the sky. Suddenly Max heard a sound he had never wanted to hear again: the roar of the beast that had been coming shortly before he and Dorian returned to the present. Instinctively, Max picked Varric up and threw him to the side. He leaped after him shouting, "Move!" A ball of fire slammed into the trebuchet, exploding on impact. If they had hesitated for just one more second, they would have been killed.

Max heard the roar again and this time, saw its source. It was a dragon. He had never seen a dragon before but a dragon is something you don't recognize on sight. It was huge, almost as big as the Chantry. It's hide was covered in dark scales. It's wings had several tears in it from previous battles. Spikes littered its entire body and red tinted curved horns protruded from its head. It flew by them after it breathed the fire that destroyed the trebuchet. Max helped Varric. 

"Shit! Who ordered the end of the world!" He shouted.

Grace was up as well. She yelled at Max. "We need to...do something!"

"We need to head back to the Chantry! Before that thing eats us!" Varric shouted, bringing their minds back into the danger.

"Come on!" Max said as they ran to the gates.

Cullen held the gates open for them as they ran in then barred them shut.

As the gates closed, Cullen cursed. "We need to fall back to the Chantry, it's the only building that might hold against that beast. At this point, just make them work for it." He said before running off towards the Chantry.

"We should grab people on the way!" Varric said.

Max nodded and went to run but froze. The dragon had landed on top of the Chantry. With a loud roar, it spewed fire I half the buildings near it and launched back into the air. Max could hear the screams of people burning. He clenched his fists in anger. *Oh yeah. That Elder thing is definitely going to pay for all the innocent people he's killed.* "We need to help them!" Max said before rushing off. Only after everyone that could be saved was saved a d safely inside the Chantry, would Max go. As they ran to the Chantry, it's tall wide doors swung open and Chancellor Roderick aided by the young man Cole, stepped out.

"Keep going, the Chantry is your shelter!" Roderick shouted to the torrent of people rushing to get in.

Max ran inside, followed by the others. The doors slammed shut and Cole helped Roderick stumble his way onto a chair.

Cole looked up at Max. "The Templar blade cut deep. He's going to die."

"What a charming young lad." Roderick said with a weak cough.

Max nodded to his other companions who had gathered around him. "Did what you asked Boss: most of the civilians and such are down in the lower tunnels under the Chantry. Now what's next?" Bull asked.

"Herald!" Cullen said as he ran up Max.

"Our position is not good. That dragon stole back whatever time you might have given us."

"I've seen an Archedemon. I was in the Fade but it looked like that." Cole put in.

"I don't care what it looks like! It's cut a path for that army! They'll kill everyone in Haven!" Cullen shouted angrily.

"The Elder One doesn't care about them. He only wants the Herald." Cole said calmly.

"If it will save these people, he can have me." Max said.

Immediately, Grace protested. "No! You are not sacrificing yourself for anyone!"

Max turned to her. "Grace, it's either that or we all die. And I couldn't go to whatever afterlife there is knowing I had a chance to save you all and I didn't take it."

"It won't save them. He wants to kill you. No one else matters but he'll kill them, crush them anyway. I don't like him." Cole said.

Cullen shook his head. "Don't like-?" He sighed. "Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was the Avalanche. You could turn the remaining trebuchet, cause one last slide."

"We're overrun. To hit the enemy, we'd bury Haven."

"We're dying but we can choose how. Many don't get that chance."

"Chancellor Roderick can help. He wants to say it before he dies." Cole suddenly said.

"There is a path." Roderick croaked out. "You wouldn't notice unless you made the summer pilgrimage but she must have shown it to me for this. Andraste must have shown me for this."

"I can bury the army, stop them from following but that thing is flying." Max said in doubt.

"No this could work. It's focus has been you this entire time. If you stayed, the rest of us may be below his notice. What of your escape?" Cassandra said.

Max looked at his feet.

"Perhaps you'll get lucky, find a way..." Ellana said.

"Go and get the people to safety. Cassandra, can I count on you to lead them? You have more experience leading a large group."

Cassandra nodded. "I won't let you down Herald. I'll find a way to kill this Elder One. Good luck." She said before taking charge and ordering people to follow Roderick through the tunnels. Soon everyone but Grace and Ellana had left for the tunnels. Ellana was looking at the ground while Grace looked furious. She stormed over to him and slapped him. "That's for being set on staying behind." Then she hugged him fiercely. "And that's for always being the hero. You don't have to do this."

"If I don't then we'll all be killed. And that's something I will never let happen. You know that. Listen, Grace. If I don't make it... Make sure to tell the rest of the family… no, just make sure to tell Dad..." He broke off.

Grace smiled widely at him, her eyes full of love for her brave silly little brother. "To fuck off?"

Max grinned. "You know me so well."

Grace hugged him one last time. "I love you Max Trevelyan. Kick some ass." Grace said before running after the others leaving only Ellana.

"You should probably head out."

"No." Ellana said softly.

"Ellana, it's not safe here anymore. You have to leave."

"No. I am staying here with you. I will not let you do this alone."

"Ellana."

She looked up from the ground and Max saw the tears flowing freely down her face. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her cry.

"I can't let you do this. Sacrifice yourself for everyone else. I won't."

"Ellana I have to. For my friends. For Grace. For you. Everyone."

She rushed to him and slipped her arms around him in an embrace. She put something in his pocket and looked him in the eyes. Then she kissed him like she had kissed him in that dark future. Caught off guard, Max stood there dumbfounded for a second before he returned the kiss with zeal. Breathless, she broke off the kiss and blushed. Then with a grin as she slowly backed up towards the tunnels, she said, "Now go save us Max. Save everyone. For me." Before turning and running down the steps to the hidden tunnels.

Max smiled as he watched her go. *I already did.* he thought. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Dalish amulet. It was the same one that the dark future Ellana had given him. No, he realized. This one is the one from the present. The other is from the potential future. He pulled that one out now and even as he watched, it faded until it just disappeared entirely. He took a deep breath and placed the one Ellana had just given him around his neck. *A little creator’s luck never hurt anyone.*

He swung open the doors to the Chantry and stepped out in the cold. The Templars had mostly recovered from the first Avalanche and we're coming down the mountain even faster than before. Which meant that Max had to get the last remaining trebuchet quickly, before the invading force got to the Chantry and its underground tunnels.

Max ran along the path to the trebuchet, fighting Horrors and swordsman alike. When he reached it, he began to swing it around towards the mountains above the town. About halfway, he heard a gurgled sound and turned.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Before him, stood a towering creature with Red Lyrium covering its entire body. It was twice the size of a normal person and had large red lyrium crystals on its back and neck. It's right arm was scrawny but it's left was enormous and reinforced with lyrium. On its small normal sized head was a Templar helmet,the last remnant of what it used to be.

It screamed. Not a roar but a scream of rage and pain. Max winced. Somewhere under all that corruption was a person.

Max groaned. "Now would be a good time to have a Qunari."

The creature lunged. It was considerably faster than it looked and its large arm slammed into Max, hurtling him several feet away. He hit the ground and gasped as the breath had been knocked out of him. He tried to stand but cried out in pain. One of his ribs had been broken when the creature hit him. He struggled to his feet despite the injury and faced the creature.

Grinding his teeth, he said, "Alright you big pansy, you asked for it." He threw one of his daggers at the creatures head but it blocked the throw with its arms. The dagger glanced harmlessly off and fell into the snow. Max cursed. He had hoped to finish it quickly with the sheer speed of his throw but the broken ribs slowed him down.

The creature moved and with just one step was towering above Max. Max looked up at it, ready. The creature raised its strong arm and brought it down with such force it flattened Max. Or it would have if Max hadn't leaped to the side. He scrambled to his feet and ran around to its back. *Time to try something else.*

With a running start, he jumped onto the creatures back. The crystals on its body made for surprisingly nice hand and foot holds. He climbed its back up to its neck. Or what he assumed was its neck. He plunged his remaining dagger into its neck which didn't have a lot of lyrium shielding it. The creature now roared with anger. Liquified lyrium soaked out of its wound. Max shoved his dagger further into its neck until it started to stumble. Max took the dagger out then plunged it back in. The creature gave one last scream before it teetered over. At the last second, Max dove out from under it and rolled away from its hulking body. He stood and clutched his chest. It burned with pain. He wearily moved over to the trebuchet and continued to wind it. He had turned it the mountains above him and now he was busy loading it. That was when he heard the flaps of wings. He turned and stared up into the sky. The dragon was flying right towards him.

"Maker I can't get a break today, can I?" Max muttered angrily. He ran away from the trebuchet and hurtled himself to the side as the dragon spat fire at him. There was an explosion and it shoved Max further away. He groaned and shook his head. He looked up. A figure was walking out of the fire. Max struggled to his feet to face the figure which turned out to be the Elder One. It snarled at him. Max grinned.

Then the ground shook. Max almost lost his balance. He swung around and cursed his luck. The dragon had landed and bounded across the snow to stop before Max.

"You are shitting me." Max muttered.

The dragon extended its long neck up and roared terrifyingly. Max flinched at the loud sound which echoed throughout the mountains.

"Enough." The Elder One ordered.

It released some kind of red magic from its hands and the dragon settled down. It continued to stare at Max with its beady little eyes.

"Pretender. You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more." The Elder One said.

"Whatever you are ugly, I'm not afraid!" Max shouted at it.

It sneered at him. "Words mortals often hurled at the darkness. Once they were mine. They are always lies. Know me. Know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One. The will that is Corypheus." It said. It almost sounded like it was preaching.

"You will kneel." Corypheus ordered.

"You'll... You'll get nothing out of me you bastard!" Max tried to say with courage but the pain from his broken bones made it difficult.

"You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not." Corypheus said as he held up an orb the size of Max's head.

He continued. "I am here for the Anchor. The process of removing it begins now." He said before thrusting the orb towards Max. The Mark instantly reacted to whatever magic seeped out of the orb. He cried out as his hand shook from the sudden pain. He fell to one knee, his hand bursting with energy.

"It is your fault 'Herald'. You interrupted a ritual years in the planning and instead of dying you stole its purpose."

The Mark flared up as Corypheus upped the magic from the orb.

"I do not yet know how you survived but what marks you as 'touched', what you flail at Rifts, I crafted to assault the very heavens!"

He squeezed the orb and more pain shot up Max's arm. The dragon took a step closer.

"And you used the Anchor to undo my work: the gall!" Corypheus said angrily.

"Tell my what this thing was meant to do!" Max shouted above the pain.

"It was made to grant certainty where there is none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it."

Corypheus walked over to Max and picked up with his free hand. The action took little to no effort at all. He held Max up to his level and looked Max in the eyes.

"I once breached the Fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the Empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption, dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused: no more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own. To champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed for I have seen the throne of the gods...and it was empty!" Corypheus said before throwing Max at the trebuchet. Max grunted on impact and fell.

"The Anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with your stumbling. But no matter. I will start anew. Find a new to this world the god it requires."

Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw a red flare shoot up into the night sky. *They made it.*

Max breathed deeply and struggled to his feet. He picked up an old sword and pointed it at Corypheus who was still speaking.

"But you. I cannot suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die." Corypheus said as he pointed an accusing finger at Max. The dragon snarled and peered at Max.

Max grinned at the two creatures who could very easily kill him.

"You expect me to fight. But that's not why I kept you talking. Enjoy your victory pal: here's your spoils!" Max shouted and kicked the trebuchet handle, firing it high above into the mountains. Corypheus looked up, surprised. The mountain rumbled and thousands upon thousands of pounds of snow began barring down towards them. Max took a moment to smile before running away as fast as he could. He saw an entrance to the tunnels and he ran to it. He looked back once to see the dragon whisking Corypheus away to safety. The avalanche rushed through the town. In mere moments it was upon him. He dove for the hole to the tunnels and fell into it. He hit rock and everything faded to darkness.


	12. A Broken Herald

A burst of pain caused by the Anchor jolted Max awake. He sat up. He was in the tunnels beneath Haven, that much was certain. But he saw no sign of the Inquisition. He struggled to his feet. He gasped in pain from his throbbing head, hand and burning chest. He had no idea where the Inquisition had gone but he knew he had to find it. He was in pain but he knew that if he stayed here he very well might succumb to his wounds. He had to move and try to find the Inquisition. It seemed like a good idea until he started moving. With each weak step, his chest burned and his hand flared. His entire left arm was pulsating with green energy. He limped through the dark tunnels until he saw a faint light. He moved towards it, full of hope.

But as he neared, several hunched forms arose from the ground. "Who's there?" Max called out weakly.

The figures turned and Max recoiled in fear. Where their faces should have been we're just large gaping jaws filled with jagged teeth. They screeched and Max clutched his ears. The sound pierced his eardrums. The figures advanced and as they got closer, Max felt the temperature drop even further. When they were almost upon him, suddenly the Anchor shot forward and a miniature rift appeared above the creatures. In mere seconds the creatures were sucked into the rift and the rift faded away. Whatever the Anchor had done, it had drained Max's already low energy. But in the process, it had quite possibly saved his life as he was in no state to put up a fight.

*Well...that's new.*

Max shrugged and made his way out of the tunnel, straight into a snowstorm. Snow and wind buffeted his face and he put his hands up to shield his eyes. The temperature took his breath away from him. He could dimly see a cart sitting in the snow. It was facing the north west so Max decided to head that way in hopes that it was the direction the Inquisition had gone. As ideas went, it wasn't his worst. He trudged through the snow that came up to his waist. It was a slow agonizing cold process and he desperately wanted to stop to rest. But he knew that if he did that, he most likely would never get up.

The Inquisition had made camp five miles away from where Max was. The soldiers had cleared a large section of the surrounding forests and set up hundreds of tents. They had put up a fence line to keep the Brontos which were carrying supplies in one place. Campfires were made and what little food they had been able to grab started cooking. The leaders of the Inquisition were gathered around a fallen log, thinking of what to do next. Trying to anyway. Most of them didn't care too much about what to do next. Most were more worried about Max. Varric was nervously adjusting Bianca's trigger over and over. Sera was eating some snacks, lost in thought. Bull leaned against a tree, running a grindstone along his ax and quietly observing the others. Blackwall was scratching his beard thoughtfully. Dorian was picking lint off his shirt, his mustache twitching occasionally. Vivienne twirled her staff nonchalantly looking bored. Josephine was staring into a fire. Cullen was comforting Grace as she cried into his shoulder. She had been sobbing the entire time they fled from Haven. The others didn't mind. They had all lost someone they held dear and Grace had just lost a brother, a loved one. Ellana paced around the site with tears in her eyes, threatening to fall out. They had all heard the roar of the dragon, the sound of the avalanche falling, the silence that came after. They all knew that no man no matter how brave or strong, could have survived facing a dragon by himself let alone an avalanche. They knew Max had sacrificed himself so that they could get away. But Ellana couldn't allow herself to think that. She knew that he had survived. She could feel it in every fiber of her being. She had wanted desperately to search for him. She had asked the others but they shot down the idea. But she would not give up. It pained her to think that he could be out there, alone and weak. *Creators save him.* She thought. *Don’t do this to him, please.* She slammed her fist down on the log, jolting everyone out of their thoughts. "We have to do something! We can't just sit here doing nothing! He could be out there!" She yelled.

Cassandra sighed. "Ellana, even if he survived the dragon encounter, there's no possible way he could have survived the Avalanche. I doubt anyone could have."

"What if he did? What if he's out there right now in pain? What if he's-." She broke off with an anguished cry. She felt weak and dizzy. Her heart ached for the man who saved them all. He had to be alive, he had to be.

She fell to her knees and prayed while the tears fell freely from her face. She didn't care that everyone could see her.

"Elgar’nan give him strength. Help him to come back to us. To me. Mythal deliver him from whatever hardships and pain he's going through right now. Sylaise help him find his way back. Creators please, I'm begging you! Creators-." Cole cut her off from her frantic praying.

He suddenly appeared beside her on the ground.

"Cold. So very cold."

Everyone froze and stared at the strange young man who had materialized in front of them.

"Freezing. Biting gnashing cold. Can't feel my hands. Can't feel my feet. Can't feel my legs. Can only feel the unrelenting cold. And the amulet. Can only feel cold and hope."

"What's creepy doing??" Sera asked, a little scared.

"Quiet." Varric said.

Cole kept talking. But his voice almost sounded like it wasn't his.

"Can see her. Her long chestnut hair that she works so little on yet looks perfect. The way she holds her head high, with her vallaslin, daring anyone to say she isn't equal to us. Focus on her face. That perfect face. Want to see her face. One last time. To make her smile. To hear her laugh. Maker I want to hear her laugh. I'd give anything to hear that one more time."

Ellana’s heart leapt out of her chest. Cole was speaking Max's thoughts.

Sera gave a whoop. "He's still alive!" She said excitedly.

Varric winked at Ellana. "And he's thinking of her."

Ellana blushed.

Cole began to whimper. "Maker where are they? Where? I can't find them. I can't-. So cold. Maker I don't want to die out here. Alone. Worried that she won't recover if I die. Worried she'll have to tell Henri I died."

"He's thinking about me!" Grace cried out. "Henri is our older brother." She explained.

"She'll hate me. Hate me if I leave her. She'll make that torturous sound of disappointment everybody always make at me if they find my body. She'll think I was weak, not as worthy as her elven companions."

"What everybody say is true. I am weak. I couldn't stop him. Couldn't beat him. He tossed me aside like I was nothing. I'm weak. I want to live. But too cold. Too tired. Embers from a campfire. Warm? Recent? Close? They're close! But not close enough. Campfires in the distance. Almost made it. Blast. Her smile. Can see her smile..." Cole suddenly stood up.

"He's nearby."

The group stood up as well. Ellana grabbed Cole by his shirt collar and shook him violently. "Where? Tell us where he is!" She shouted.

Bull and Blackwall dragged her away from Cole who just stood there. He looked at her. Felt her sadness and anguish. Felt her love for the lost.

"He's dying." He said plainly.

"Dread Wolf take you, tell me where he is!" Ellana screamed.

Cole pointed to the mountain pass to the south. "There. He's crawling. He wants to see you again. One last time."

Ellana shoved Bull and Blackwall away and made her way to where they were keeping their horses. "I'm getting him back. Even if I have to search this entire world, I am finding him."

Cullen and Cassandra followed. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too." Cassandra said.

"Be careful!" Leliana called after them.

But Ellana didn't care about being careful. All she cared about was finding their one hope. Their one Herald. Their Max. 

"Herald!" Cullen shouted above the wind and snow.

They had reached the spot Cole had pointed at and we're now searching frantically for the Herald amidst the snow which fell so thickly they didn't dare go more than a couple feet from the others for fear of getting lost in the endless blanket of white.

"Herald, where are you!" Cassandra shouted. "I'm not seeing him! Maybe that spirit was wrong."

"No he has to be here somewhere! I'm not going back to camp without him!" Ellana shouted. "Max!"

She looked around but could only see white. They searched for what seemed like hours but suddenly, Ellana saw something sparkle in the snow several meters away from her. She squinted at its source and could dimly see a green glint.

"I see him! Max, I'm coming!" She yelled as she ran to him.

He was lying face first in the snow, his left hand glowing while he clutched the Dalish amulet she had given him before she left him at Haven. Her hand shot up to her mouth. *He was thinking about her! Cole was telling the truth. Max was thinking about her.*

She couldn't move. Overcome with emotion she couldn't move.

Cassandra and Cullen ran over. "Herald!"

"Thank the Maker!" Cassandra said.

Cassandra shook Max but Max didn't move. He knelt and felt for a pulse, fearing the worst.

But Cassandra felt a pulse. It was slow but steady. "Sweet Maker, he's still alive!" she shouted above the snowfall.

"Hurry we have to get him to the mages!" Cullen said.

Cassandra nodded and picked Max up and sat him down in the saddle of her horse. Cullen shook Ellana , propelling her into action. She jumped on her horse and sped off back towards the camp with Cassandra and Cullen galloping behind her.

Grace heard the sound of galloping horses and looked to the direction it was coming from. The sound stopped and Cullen came into view. Behind him was Cassandra and Ellana. Cassandra was carrying Max in his arms. And Max wasn't moving.

Grace jumped to her feet. "Max!" She cried as she ran over. "Is he alive?"

Cassandra nodded. "Just barely."

Cassandar placed Max's still body down on a cot under a tent. Grace moved to her brothers side but found herself being pushed away by Ellana who felt the need to be by his side as well. Grace pushed her way back to side only to be shoved violently away again. Angry, Grace shoved Ellana again. "Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?"

"I need to be with him." Ellana said.

Grace put her hands on her hips. "No I do. I am his sister, what are you!" She shouted angrily.

"Well he's my-. Never mind what he is to me but I need to be at his side!"

The two woman glared at each other, furious.

Solas, who had been apart from the group walked up and glared at them both. "Both of you leave. Max needs healing or he won't make it."

Both women went to protest but Solas held up a hand. "That wasn't up for debate. Go. Dorian, Vivienne please come here and help me."

Ellana and Grace stomped out grumpily as Grace went back to her tent and Ellana knelt and begged the Creators to save the man who made her life complicated yet joyful.


	13. A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is made the new Inquisitor. Also, a certain duo of characters I really adore are introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Mistress_Lavellan for leaving Kudos and a comment. It helps me a lot knowing that people like where I'm going with this.

_ Max had gotten used to this. He had gotten used to getting berated at home. Outside. Everywhere. Whenever he woke up, he could be sure to hear his father’s scathing voice, calling him one name or another. It had usually been “disappointment” or “you little shit”. Only his mother and his sister stuck up for him. Both had faced consequences. It was this one day. The day after her death. He had come home, in tears and grieving for his lost soulmate. His mother had instantly came and comforted him. So had his sister. Until the jerk of a father called him to the sitting room and started yelling at him. But this time was different. They were usually brutal, striking at his core, but this time they were striking at him, his family, his friends, and most importantly, Caitwyn. He had stood there, bearing the brunt of the insult and slurs thrown at him. However, when Mother had ran up to the man to try and stop him, he had slapped her. Laid his hands on her. That was when he had snapped. The thing about him was that when he snapped, he truly snapped. His mind accelerated, doing things in mere seconds that a regular mind would take minutes to do. He picked up the wine bottle and approached his father. “No one strikes my mother,” he said. “No one.” He smashed the bottle on his dad’s head, and watched as he collapsed. Then he started punching him. Maker that felt good. He won’t hurt anybody now. Not anymore. _

_ “Max.” “Max.” “MAX!” _

“MAX!” 

*Not this again.* “It’s the dreams again, isn’t it? I can explain. I might be a bit crazy but not too-” Max stopped as Ellana put her finger on his lips and shushed him. “You’re awake. That’s what matters.” 

“How long was I out?”

“More than three days.”

“Three days? Maker,” Max said as he got up and felt a sharp pain in his ribs.

“Rest. You deserve it Herald.”

“Herald? I thought we were close enough for a first name-” Max tried to say as Ellana kissed him. This one had been just like the one in Haven, but better circumstances.

“Don’t talk about this. Ever.”

\---------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------

“Shit,” Cullen said as Max dictated the plan Solas had told him. He had known of a fortress in the Frostbacks, and had planned on taking them there. Max found it extremely convenient that they were only a few miles away, but didn’t question.

As he climbed the mountain, he could see the fortress in the distance. It was huge. Huger than anything he had ever seen before. It touched the sky. It seemed to pierce it. *Perfect,* Max thought as he climbed down. *Varric owes me 10 sovereigns,*

\------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------------

“The walls are solid. Really solid, if I say so myself. Solid enough to hold off an attack,” Max said as he and Cassandra walked throughout the castle. They were conducting rounds about the fortress, assessing its stability and protection.

“Agreed. This is a good home. A good organization. For a good cause. All we need is a good leader,” Cassandra said.

“Well, there is Leliana, Josephine, and you. You all have leadership experience.”

“We do, but a true leader has the approval of the people. He holds the affection, he cares about them. And while we do have leadership experience, we don’t truly know what the people want. We were never truly connected with them. There is only one person who is that. You.”

“Me? I’m just a guy who coincidentally had a mark on his hand. Nothing more, maybe even less.”

“That’s the charm about you. You rose from a nobody to one of the most respected people in Thedas. Just like the Hero and the Champion.”

“I see you have really thought this through. I’ll consider it.”

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

It had been a week since he had been made Inquisitor. Max got the biggest and only room on the top floor, with a cozy layout and an impressive and jaw-dropping view of the Frostbacks.  All the resources, agents, and money the Inquisition had was now at his disposal. He was now the big guy making all the shots and important decisions. He was in charge. And he hated it.

He wasn't used to being in charge. In truth, he didn't care for it. He knew there were several others who would be a much better leader. Cassandra, Josephine, Leliana, Cullen, the list goes on. Yet they had picked him. 

“Hey Max, come check this out,” Varric called out as Max walked past him. He walked over to Varric, who motioned for him to walk to the battlements.    
“What am I looking at?” Max asked as he and Varric climbed up the stairs to a tower.

“The Champion of Kirkwall!” a person yelled as he jumped out of the shadows and scared Max.

“Shit!” Max yelled as he fell to the ground.

“Relax. It’s just me, the friendly and kind of old Garrett Hawke!” Hawke said as he helped Max up.

“Good to see you still alive and not cut up by the Chantry, especially after the shit we did,”  Max said as he shook Hawke’s hand.

“Luckily, the Chantry didn’t have much influence where I went.”

“But Varric,” Max said as he turned around. “You do realize Cassandra will murder you when she finds out, right?”

“Oh I do. But I’ve got the Champion to protect me!”

“Elgar’nan, you lot will never stop joking, will you?” an elven woman said as she stepped out of the shadows. She was slender, hair short, robes simple, and a staff hanging on her back.

“Nope. And I’ll have you know, you were the one who said that made me attractive,” Hawke replied.

“Max!" Merrill said in delight as she hugged him.

"How've you been?" He asked.

"Very well. How about you?"

"Aside from the mark and almost dying, life is pretty good."

“So Max, the reason why I called Hawke was because we, including Merrill, fought Corypheus before, and had ‘killed’ him,” Varric said as Merrill shook her head.

“You never did tell me how that went.”

“I don’t understand. We saw him fall. My spells, Hawke’s and Aveline’s blades, and Varric’s bolts should’ve killed him. But somehow, he still lives,” she said somberly.

“I have a contact in the Grey Wardens who might have an idea about how this works. He’s also investigating red lyrium corruption. The last location he reported he was in was in a cave in Crestwood. So if we could, I’d like to go there as soon as possible,” Hawke said as Max nodded.

“Will do. But first, let me first show you to your room, so you can catch up on sleep,” Max said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help them with that. You go and prepare for Crestwood,” Varric said as Max nodded and they parted their ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you are pissed off about this, but I will be putting The Final Chapter (the second work in this series) on hold. This is so that I have additional time to focus on this prequel and flesh it out for greater understanding of the second work. It also helps me not reveal any spoilers from the future of this work.
> 
> Thanks for understanding,  
> FanficitonNerd456


	14. Crestwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of another one of my favorite characters.

Max hated the rain. He always had, and he would always hate it. Rain reminded him too much of him sitting out in the cold, begging for food and money. It gave him bad memories. Most of all, it made him feel cold.

That’s why he hated Crestwood with a burning passion. It reminded him of old times, and it was too wet. 

“You okay Herald? This is the 10th time you’ve slipped, and it isn’t looking like it’s going to stop,” Blackwall said as Max nodded and slipped on another rock.

“I swear, when I go back to Skyhold, I’ll make slippery rocks public enemy number on-woahhhhhhh!” Max exclaimed as he slipped yet again.

“Get up Herald. We have places to be. Things to do. And we can’t wait for you to feel wetness here. Do that in a tavern. Or your bedroom,” Bull said as Blackwall and Dorian chuckled and Max got up to glare at Bull. He shrugged and kept going.

Finally, they found a path that wasn’t slippery and walked until they reached New Crestwood. In front of the gates were two Wardens and guards fighting off and protecting an elven mother and her child from demons. Max cracked his neck and drew his daggers.

“Bull, you take care of the shades, Dorian will take care of the wraiths, and Blackwall and I will help whenever possible,” Max said as his party nodded and ran to action. Bull started swinging his hammer at the shades, felling them in one swoop. Dorian blasted the wraiths with spells and Blackwall finished them off.

“That’s that. Well, my lady, the Inquisition camp is just this way. You’ll find safety for you and your little tyke there,” Max assured as the elven lady and child ran off leaving the Wardens alone.

“It’s an honor to meet you Inquisitor. I’ve heard a lot of things about you, and appreciate the fact that you are helping the people,” the first Warden said as Max nodded.

“What are you doing here?”

“Classified Warden details, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry. Blackwall!” Max called out. “You can talk to him.”

“Blackwall? You mean Gordon Blackwall? The Warden-Constable of Orlais?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Blackwall said as he walked up to the Wardens.

“Will you be staying to help?” Blackwall asked as the Warden shook his head.

“No. Clarel ordered us to return swiftly if he’s not found.”

“Very well. Farewell,” Blackwall said as he walked back to the Inquisitor and the Wardens took their leave.

“What is it?”

“Seems like they were looking for a rogue Warden in Crestwood. Hawke’s story checks out then.”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

\-------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------------

They had entered a cave with a wooden structure and a skull and crossbones sign that said keep out.

*Creepy,* Max thought as he knocked on the door and kicked it down.

There was a Warden inside with blond hair and blue eyes who was asleep, and suddenly woke up.

“Who’re you?” he asked as he quickly picked up his sword and shield.

“Relax. Inquisitor Maxwell Trevelyan, The Iron Bull, Dorian Pavus, and Warden Constable Blackwall at your service,” Max said as he raised his hands and walked inside.

“Oh, o- wait what? Inquisitor? Warden Constable? Shit, what did I do wrong? Is Clarel pissed off with me? Or even worse, Lyna?”

“Who’s Lyna? And no, you didn’t do anything wrong. We’re here to ask questions.”

“And how the hell do you know where I was? Nobody conveniently told you, did they?”

“Actually, I maybe kinda sorta told him so you could help fight this dude named Corypheus,” Hawke said as he stepped into the room.

“Oh good you’re here. Here I thought my ass was screwed because the Wardens found me and were going to kill me.”

“Nope. Now, if I could take you back to Skyhold, we can talk more, and I can know more.”

“Cool. Take me there, and me information es su information.”

\---------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few days since Alistair came to Skyhold. Hawke and Merrill were in their room enjoying each other’s company. Their room was simple but cozy. It had a desk, two chairs, and a bed. Perfect for them.

“It’s nice having a bed finally. Gives my back a break,” Hawke said as Merrill smiled.

“Yes, but I liked the sounds of nature more. It reminds me of my clan and the days I spent in the forest.”

“That’s cool.”

“But wherever we go, I wish to only spend time there with you, so that I wouldn’t be alone,” Merrill said as Hawke frowned.

“Merrill, you’ll never be alone. You’ve got soldiers, you’ve got friends-” Hawke said as Merrill shook her head.

“No. You are the only one who truly understands me. Truly loves me. You are the one who I have completely opened to and trust. I love you Hawke. So much. That’s why I wanted to come with you when you ran away. That’s why I will come with you wherever we go.”

Hawke wiped his tears as he smiled. “I love you too Merrill. So much,” he said as he pulled in his Vhenan for a deep kiss.


	15. The Beauty of Music

Ellana was walking to the tavern to get a drink. She entered the tavern and saw Max playing his lute. She looked around for Maryden, but saw her sitting down and watch him play. Just like before, his fingers glided throughout the instrument, plucking note after note in a perfect harmony to make music that was beautiful. He captured the crowd in such a way that you could hear a leaf fall.

The notes seemed to permeate, each one joined to create the most heavenly sound to grace them. It was unlike anything she’d heard. Maryden was a good musician, a great one even, but she didn’t come close to Max with his creativity. Max always played something that was really unconventional, yet it sounded magical. 

Ellana pulled up a chair and sat down to listen. He finally finished, and the crowd roared in cheer, with Ellana part of them. After they had died down, she approached Max. 

“Fancy seeing you here. I thought the Dalish didn’t drink.”

“And I thought the high and mighty Inquisitor won’t mingle with the people.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong.”

Ellana pulled her chair closer to Max’s. “Now that you’re here, how about we do a duet? You sing, and I’ll strum,” Max said as Ellana laughed.

“How do you know I have a good singing voice?”

“I know you have an amazing singing voice because you sang to me when my bad dreams came. I can remember stuff you know,” Max replied as Ellana blushed. She had sung to him when she walked in on his dreams. Her heart fluttered when she realized Max remembered. Then she scolded herself. *You are Dalish, the last of the people. You will not bow to submission, and certainly not feel for a human man.*

“Sure. Do you have a song in mind?”

“The one you sang to me. “I am the One, who will recount what we’ve lost,”” Max said as he sung part of the song in a deep voice.

“Sure. Whenever you’re ready?”

“Let’s go.”

Ellana stood up next to Max. “How do we do this?”

“Just sing. The crowd will quickly pay attention.”

Ellana nodded as Max started playing the notes. They sounded like the flowing of water, smooth and silky. His face had a smile the entire time, and he looked at Ellana while playing.

“ _ I feel sun, _

_ Through the ashes in the sky. _

_ Where’s the one _

_ Who’ll guide us into the night? _

_ What’s begun  _

_ Is the war that will force this divide. _

_ What’s to come _

_ Is the fire and the end of time _

_ I am the one _

_ Who will recount what we’ve lost. _

_ I am the one who will live on. _

_ I have run, through the fields of pain and sighs, _

_ I have fought to see the other side _

_ I am the one who will recount what we’ve lost. _

_ I am the one who will live on, _ ”

Ellana finished as Max launched into a complicated solo on his guitar. Notes flew left and right. You could still hear the basic rhythm, but it was almost completely washed out by the flurry of notes he was playing. There it was, the unconventionality. Max played unusually fast, while still sounding good. And he never looked at his guitar while playing. He usually made faces, varying from a straight face to an ecstatic smile and everything in between. 

As he finally finished, the crowd roared and cheered for the duo. Max stood up and bowed. Ellana bowed too as Max walked up to Maryden.

“Ellana, meet one of my old friends, Maryden Hallwell. Maryden, this is Ellana, the woman who sang that beautiful song.” Max introduced as Ellana and Maryden shook hands.

“You never lost your touch, did you?” Maryden asked as Max laughed.

“Not when it was my only path to peace,” Max replied as Ellana looked at him sadly. *That’s how he coped with his dreams,* she thought. *Play the guitar, and let the notes carry away your worries.*

“So, shall I grab you ladies a drink? It’s on me,” Max said as Maryden shook her head.

“Now that you’re gone, someone’s got to keep the crowd entertained.”

“I’ll join you,” Ellana said as she and Max found a table secluded to themselves. Max ordered a mug of ale, while Ellana ordered a mug of mead.

“So, how did you know Maryden? You said she was an old friend?” Ellana asked when Max took a sip.

“It’s a really long story.”

“I don’t mind. We’ve got the entire night.”

“Whoo. Here’s how it went. This story starts right after I go home after Caitwyn’s death. I go home, filled with grief and sorrow for my love. I come home to my shrew of a father yelling at me for loving ‘an uncultured knife ear’ and mourning for her loss when she was ‘supposedly below us’. He berated me for being a lazy son of a bitch and not marrying. He hurled insult after insult at me. I stood there and bore it. My heart was fuming, and my whole body was preparing to obliterate that man. Suddenly, my mom ran over and started trying to convince my dad to stop. And that’s when he hit her. And that’s when he drew the last straw. This weird thing happened with my body. It seemed like all my rage was focused into one point of my brain, kicking it into overdrive and seemingly enhancing my abilities. I walked over, took a bottle of wine, and smashed it on my father’s head. Then as he fell, I started punching him. Hard. The guards came over and pulled me back, with my father yelling at me to get out. Hence, I got kicked out of my house, forced to survive on the streets alone when I was just 17. I then went to Kirkwall to join a mercenary group, and then found Hawke and Bethany there. Soon after, I was acquainted with all his friends, and soon we became a family of our own. But then, the Chantry blew up, so I had to run, and then I met Maryden. We were travelling, playing at taverns, and that’s about it.”

Ellana never failed to be amazed by him. This man has gone through so much shit, and yet he’s still cheerful.  He wears his mask loud and proud, showing it off to the world. But inside, he’s a shell of himself. How does he still live? How does he still  _ want _ to live?

“All right, I’m going to my quarters. Got to ensure my hangover isn’t too bad,” Max said as he got up.

“Oh. Good night.”

“And a good night to you too.”


	16. The Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW content.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!” he yelled.

She wiped her eyes and sat on the bed.

“What is it?”

“This woman named Leliana sent a letter. Saying that you should come back to this place called Skyhold.”

“Skyhold. Skyhold. Skyhold!” she yelled as she got up.

“Pack my stuff. I’m not staying here anymore.”

“But what about your research?”

“Hang my research. My friends come first.”

“Oh yeah. She also said that there was this man named Alistair there.”

“Sweet. Now I know I’m definitely going.”

\-------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------------

“What are you doing here? State your purpose or get out!”

“Now is that how you treat a woman?” she asked the two guards at the drawbridge.

“That is how we treat everybody. I say again, state your purpose or get out!”

“Damn. You  _ shems _ are crazy,” she said as she sighed.

“What’d you say, you little shit!?” The guard yelled as he approached her.

“I said, tell your spymaster that the Hero of Ferelden is here!”

\---------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------------

“Lyna!”

“Leliana!”

The pair exclaimed as they hugged each other.

“It has been far too long, my friend. How have the years treated you?” 

“Very good. How about you?”   
“Fine fine. What about your mission? To find the cure?”

Lyna sighed. “Futile. I couldn’t even get past Nevarra without getting contacted by Weisshaupt. They asked me to come help them with a situation with darkspawn. That was two years. Two years had been spent researching whether there is a ship capable of sailing west. None. Finally, I spent a year in Soldier’s Peak trying to figure out if there was a cure in Avernus’s notes. None.”

“Well I’m sorry to hear that. But Alistair’s here.”   
“I know. You mentioned in the letter. How is he?”

“You can go see for yourself. He’ll be in the tavern with the Inquisitor and his circle tonight.”

“That’s good. But now, I have a date with a hot bath.”

\-----------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------------

It was evening. Lyna was completely ready to meet her soulmate after five years.

*Five years huh? It’s been a while Lyna. Don’t fuck up,* she thought to herself as she walked up to the tavern. Her red hair had been properly washed and combed. She wore a regular, not revealing anything. She wore the slightest of makeup, trusting the statement Alistair had always said, “You look more beautiful without makeup.”. Now that she had time, she thought about how Alistair would react. Would he be joyful, morose, or what?

*That’s bullshit. Alistair loves you, you love him, and you both know that,* she thought to herself. But doubt was there. What if he had moved on? What if he had found another one for him? What if he had forgotten her?

In her train of thought, she accidentally bumped into Alistair, who was walking out of the tavern. They both apologized and walked on.

Wait a minute. “Excuse me, miss.” Alistair said as Lyna turned around. Recognition bloomed in their faces as the two lovers ran to unite after a long 5 years. 

“Ma Vhenan, it’s so good to see you. After all those years, you still look as handsome as ever,” Lyna said as she leaned her head on Alistair’s chest and hugged him.

“I could say the same about you. You look beautiful today. How has life treated you?”

“Not well enough without you. My search turned up no results. What about you?”

“I’m apparently a rogue Warden now. Clarel has ordered anyone who sees me to seize me and return me back to headquarters.”

“Does this have something to do with the Calling?”

“Yes. But enough of that. I want to spend more time with you. It’s been so long, my love.”

“I know.”

Lyna said as she pulled Alistair into a kiss. A kiss that communicated 5 years worth of sorrow, tragedy, love, affection, care, and all the other emotions. Alistair returned it the same way. They broke apart, and held their hands. “Let’s retire to our room, before we make any noise,” Lyna said with a playful grin as Alistair smiled.

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

“I need you inside me. Right now,” Lyna said with a shudder. She had stripped down until nothing was remaining. Alistair had done the same, with his member excited and pulsing.

“Your wish is my command, Commander,” Alistair said as he pulled Lyna to him on the bed. Lyna landed on top of him, and kissed him wildly. She straddled on his member, arousing him and herself equally. 

“Five years, and I get this?” Alistair asked playfully as Lyna slammed fully on his pulsating member.

“Fuck me Alistair. Fuck me until you cum inside me, I want you to spill your seed!” Lyna exclaimed as she rode Alistair like it was her life. Those passing minutes were only occupied by her, him, and the sounds of them making love. Finally, Alistair growled as he spilled his seed into her mound.

They both climaxed and fell on the bed. 

“I love you Lyna. I have always loved you, I love you, and will love you forever.”

“I don’t doubt that Ali-bear. And I love you too. To Arlathan and back.”

“Ali-bear?”

Lyna got up a little. “You did say you were raised by dogs, right?”

“Bears aren’t dogs!”

“Good night then, Ali-bari.”

“And good night to you too, my sweet dalish lover.”


	17. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max attends an important. He also confesses very important information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to Mistress_Lavellan for leaving feedback. It really helped me knowing what my audience thinks about my work.

“It appears that there is an invitation to a party. From a Marcher nobility called the Manallys, out of Wycome. It is extended to the Inquisitor and any companions he brings,” Josephine said as Max nodded. It was Cullen, Leliana, Josephine and Max in the war room. They had just figured out an expedition to the Western Approach. They had also learnt that Empress Celene was going to have a ball in a few months.

“When is it?” Max asked.

“In two weeks.”

“Splendid. We do deserve a break. Send a letter back saying the Inquisition is attending.”

“Are you sure Inquisitor?” Cullen asked. “Shouldn’t we investigate the Approach first?”

“Max is right,” Leliana said. Thankfully, she was informal enough to use his actual name. “It’ll take weeks, maybe even a few months to figure out the logistics for the expedition. The Inquisition can gain potential allies in that party, and not attending would be a wasted chance.”

“I’ll pack for it. And also ask around if anybody wants to come,” Max said as he left the room.

\----------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey sis,” Max said as he walked up to Grace.

“I just learnt that there’s a party at this random noble’s house in Wycome. You wanna come?”

“Sure,” Grace said as Cullen walked by. Max noticed Cullen turning around and Grace giving him the lover’s look. The look saying I love you. Max had done that lots of times before, but not recently. Not after what happened.

“There’s something between you, isn’t there?” Max asked as Grace suddenly snapped her head around.

“Me and the Commander? Um I don’t-uh-kn-uh-know what you’re talking about.”

“Give it up. I’m your elder brother. I would know when my little sister loves someone, and my gut’s telling me you love the certain someone who just walked by us.”

“Fine. Yes I do love him. A lot. Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Promise.”

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

Max walked to look where Ellana was when she saw him conversing with Solas. Really conversing. Conversing like a person would with their crush. Max pushed down his feelings of jealousy and waited for the conversation to finish. 

“Oh hey Max,” Ellana said as Max focused back on reality.   
“Hey. I just learnt that there is a party at a random noble’s house in Wycome. Would you like to join me?”

“Maybe. When is it?”   
“About two weeks.”

Ellana thought to herself. “Yeah, I’ll join you.”

 

Later that day, he asked around. Nobody else wanted to come. Then Max made his mind up. 

“Cullen,” Max said as he walked into Cullen’s office.

“Would you like to come to the party?”

Cullen spit his water out. “I’m sorry what?”

“Would you like to come to this party?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I know there’s a thing between you and Grace. If you come, you can spend time together and take an adult-nap.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s not the point. Are you coming or not?”

“Alright, fine, I’ll come.”

\--------------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------

“Everybody ready?” Max called out as Cullen, Grace and Ellana yelled yes back.

“We’ll be gone for two weeks max,” Max told Josephine as she laughed. Max looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“It’s just that Max is saying he’ll take two weeks max,” Josephine said as she laughed again. Max shook his head with a smile as he got on his horse and motioned for the others to follow him.

\---------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------

**A week later**

 

“And who are you?” the guard asked as Max sighed.

“Maxwell Trevelyan, also known as the Herald of Andraste or the Inquisitor. Here’s my invitation,” he replied as he handed the invitation. The guard eyed Ellana suspiciously and let them in.

 

“Ah Inquisitor! Good to see you!” the noble, presumably the scion of the Marnallys. 

Max nodded with a smile as the noble shook his head. “My name is Richard Marnally, and it’s wonderful that you’re attending.”

“It’s an honor for me to attend a party of this magnitude. Truly”

“You flatter me. Now that you’re here, relax and have some fun. The ball will start in an hour,”

*An hour!* Max thought as the noble walked away. “The man just told us to make ourselves at home!” Max told the others as they dispersed; Grace and Cullen to their corner, and Ellana to her corner. Everybody stared at her weirdly, like she did not belong there.

Max smiled and walked up to her. 

“What do you think? Have you been to these high and mighty  _ shem _ parties before?” Ellana asked as Max stood next to her.

“Yes, but not in a very long time. Not after my father disowned me,” Max replied.

“You never answered my first question.”   
“Oh right. The house looks nice,” Max said as he looked around. The mansion was beautiful. There was a huge hunting grounds outside where all kinds of animals came and visited. The inside was decorated with what was presumed the Manallys’ paintings. There were plants hanging from everywhere.

“Lots of nature, isn’t there?” Ellana asked.

“Weird. Usually, nobles will display statues and such, but this is all nature.”

“Ooh, they’re serving dinner,” Ellana said as she walked towards the table.

“Wait for me!” Max exclaimed as he followed her.

It was a long table, with Lord and Lady Marnally sitting as the heads at the table. Max was sitting right next to Ellana at the middle of the table, across from a woman who was eyeing him a bit too much.

“Let the feast commence!” Lord Marnally exclaimed as Max and Ellana dove right into their food.

“This is good fish,” Ellana said as she kept eating.

“Wycome is regarded as the revelry capital of Thedas, so it makes sense,’’ Max said as he kept munching on the fish.

“What’s big assets doing?” Ellana asked as she nodded towards the woman sitting across from her.

“Big asse-” Max asked as he turned around. The woman was displaying a little too much of her cleavage, and looked a little too eager doing it. 

“Okay then,” Max said as he turned around and looked everywhere else. Ellana laughed as Max blushed and facepalmed. 

“Looks like the ball has started,” Max said as Ellana looked over to the dance floor nervously.

“I may not get another chance at this,” Max said as Ellana looked at him. Max stood up and bent down to extend his arm.

“Lady Lavellan, may I have the honor of this dance?” Max asked as Ellana blushed.

“But you have so many admirers who are better than me in every way.”   
“I think you’re the best, my lady. You have some spirit and dignity, unlike them, who are willing to show all their ‘assets’ to a stranger.”

“Of course,” Ellana said as she held Max’s hand and walked to the floor. “Only problem is, I don’t know shit about dancing/”

“Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it.” Max said as Ellana and he bowed and started slow-dancing.

He could hear whispers about him and Ellana. Things like, “The Inquisitor with a knife ear? How scandalous!” and “Is she his whore? She has to be!`` It infuriated him when people said things like that, because he considered Ellana as an equal to anybody in that room, maybe even better. She was Ellana. She was one of the nicest people possessing the most caring heart Max had ever met. Max also respected Ellana and elves in general deeply. They had gone through so much, with Tevinters enslaving them, and the Orlesians forcing them in Alienages. And yet they still survived.

“What are you thinking about?” Ellana asked.

“I heard whisperings of people asking if you were my whore, and how scandalous this is.”

Ellana frowned. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea. Your reputation is getting ruined because of me.”

Max smiled. “I couldn’t care less about what the people here think. I respect you deeply, and nobody can change that.”

Ellana smiled back at him. She liked him a lot. He didn’t have any sort of racial or gender prejudice against anyone. He was nice to everybody from the people from the lowest echelons of society to the Empress of Orlais. However, he got pissed off whenever someone insults anyone close to him. Admirable traits indeed.

“Would you look at that? The dance is already over. Two or more hours, and we’re out of here!” Max exclaimed.

“We should do that again sometime,” Ellana said as she scolded herself. *You idiot, it won’t work out.*

“I would like that,” Max replied as he and Ellana walked back to the main hall. 

“I’ll get some drinks for both of us while you wait here,” Max said as he walked off leaving Ellana alone.

 

“Inquisitor!” A woman squealed as Max got two meads and was ready to head back.

*Not this lady again,* he thought as the woman with the large assets walked over. She grabbed the drink out of Max’s hand and chugged it as Max stared in disbelief.

“So, how about you and I get to know each other a little better? I know a few spots where we can have some time to ourselves,” the lady said as Max blushed.

“Um, what do you mean?”

“You know. Knocking the boots. Taking an adult nap. Calling down the griffons.”

“Nope, no thank you,” Max said as he edged away from the woman.

The woman jumped closer and gripped his member. “Think about it Inquisitor. You, me, the two most powerful families in the Marches. We could do some good work.”

“Oh hell no.” Max said as he grabbed another mead and ran away from the woman.

 

“I have the craziest story to tell-” Max started as he saw Ellana wasn’t at her spot.

“Ellana,” Max called out. “Ellana.”

Max started to look around. He asked Cullen and Grace if they knew where she was. Their answer was no. Max started to panic. “Ellana!” he called out with distress.

*I’ll go by the entrance and wait. When the party’s ended, she’ll come to me,* Max thought as he walked over to the entrance and stood. Suddenly, he heard something.

“Help!” he heard someone scream as they were restrained. Max ran over to the source of the noise and investigated.

“HEY!” he yelled and ran at the two men who were abducting an elf.    
*SHIT!* Max thought as he realized that elf was Ellana. She had been beaten badly. She had bruises all over her faces, and her body didn’t seem that much better.

“Let her go. Right now.”

“Or what? Is this your little knife-ear whore? Now, it’s ours.” One man said as the other one exclaimed.

“Let her go or else you’ll cry for mommy and daddy,” Max said with a growl as he approached the men.

“Let’s teach him a lesson!” the man exclaimed as he swung at Max. Instincts kicked in, and Max ducked the punch. He drove an elbow into his stomach, sending the man flying back. 

The other man let go of Ellana, and charged at Max. Max sidestepped him, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and pushed him to the floor. The first man came up and started punching Max. He was caught by surprise, and the man hammered Max with a few punches.

“What did you say? I’ll cry for mommy and daddy? Bullshit,” the man said as he swung at Max again. Max grabbed his arm, pushed him to the ground, and broke his entire arm. The man cried out in pain as the second man made one final attempt at hurting Max. He merely moved his head to the side and stepped forward, closing the distance between them. He elbowed the man in the chest then brought his fist up to his face, breaking his nose in one fluid movement. Max grabbed the man’s head and brought it down upon his knee, breaking his jaw in the process. Then he grabbed the scruff of his shirt and threw him to the dirt where the man groaned in a dazed fit of pain. It all happened within seconds. The man was utterly amazed and scared at how quickly and easily Max was able to dispatch him. He cried out in pain. Max stood over him. He kicked him again and again, all the while shouting abuse at the disgusting creep. "You little piece of shit! Don't ever try that again! You fucking degenerate! Not so high and nightly now huh? Think you can just step all over others and use them how you deem fit? Think again filth! Fucking parasite is what you are!" Max was so blinded by rage, he didn't notice that a crowd had formed around them. He heard people screaming his name but he ignored them. This creep needed to get what was coming to him.

Max felt a hand on his shoulder and calmed down. Grace pulled him back as she went to Lord Marnally to complain and Max went to check on Ellana.

“Ellana, Ellie, wake up! Come on, wake up!” Max yelled as Ellana suddenly rose up and took off her gag. She looked at Max, then at Cullen. Then she suddenly hugged Max and started crying.

\---------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------

“Here’s some soup for you,” Max said. They were in the Planasene forest, setting camp up to take some rest. Turns out the fuckers broke both of Ellana’s arms. Without a mage’s help, there was little they could’ve done. Grace had prepared soup for the party, and had retreated to her spot with Cullen. Max had gotten a bowl of soup for Ellana and walked over to her.

“I’m not hungry,” Ellana said as she frowned and looked away.

“What’s the matter? You know you can talk to me right?” Max said.

“It’s just that I can’t get over how close I was to losing everything. Losing my life at the Inquisition. Losing my friends. Losing you.”

“Well that didn’t happen. I made sure of it.”

“Why did you hurt the men the way you did? I would’ve done that if I had the chance, but why you?”

“I just couldn’t bear the sight of losing you. That and the injustice of it sent me into this mode. The mode I was in when I smashed my dad’s head with a wine bottle and got kicked. All I could focus on was beating the shit out of the men and getting revenge for what happened to you.”

Ellana smiled at him. “That’s nice to hear. I mean it’s nice to hear that someone’s looking out for me.”

Max didn’t know how to say it. It had been more than ten years since he had last said this. But he meant it. He had completely fallen for Ellana Lavellan. He just didn’t know how to say it.

“I want to talk to you about something,” Max said.

“Well I am here. My arms might be dead, but my ears aren’t.”

*Right. Of course they aren’t.*

“I wanted to ask you a question. And I want an honest answer.” 

Ellana nodded.

“You see, I’ve completely fallen in love with this one woman, but don’t know how to say it.”

Ellana’s interest was piqued. “Who’s the lucky woman? What’s she like?”

“She’s nice, has a wonderful and caring heart, and is the most beautiful woman i’ve seen. She just dares everyone to say she’s different, and she embraces it.”

Ellana thought hard. “Well, you could just go up to them and confess your feelings. Compliment them, and ask them how they feel, but don’t make it awkward. One final thing is to make sure you’re in a private area.” 

Max looked over and saw Cullen and Grace retiring to Cullen’s tent.

*Here goes nothing*

“I have a confession to make, Ellana Lavellan. I uh.. I…. What I mean is....” Max stuttered as Ellana stared keenly.

“I don’t know how to say it, but… I love you. With all my heart. Ever since we first saw each other in the Hinterlands, something just lit inside of me. Something that hasn’t been lit for over a decade.”

*What can I do? I’m Dalish. I’m supposed to not bow to any  _ shem _ , but he’s not just any  _ shem _ .*

“I’m sorry Max, but I don’t think it’ll work out. You have millions of other women to love. And they are all docile and human, and perfect for you. Me, I’m too different to be any good.” *Stop trying to push him away. Accept it, you’ve fallen for him too.*

Max smiled again. *Creators, what is it with that smile. The smile that makes my insides warm and melt it to jelly at the same time.* “You know how I said the woman I love embraces her differences. It’s true. That’s what I admire about you. I don’t want a docile woman  who’s fit for being a housewife and an Orlesian wallflower. I respect a woman who fights for herself and doesn’t back down a lot more.”

Ellana sighed. *I’m going to regret this later.* “I’m sorry Max. Like I said, it won’t work. I’m Dalish. Dalish don’t have romantic associations with humans. But we can remain friends. We can remain friends  _ lethallin _ , but we can’t go further than that.” 

Max smiled a sad smile. *I got rejected. Damn that feels bad. But at least we’ll still remain friends.*

“Well, on that note, I’ve got to go to bed now. Good night,” Max said as he walked back to his tent.    
“Good night,” Ellana said with a feeble voice and heavy heart.


	18. Western Approach

"Hawke and Alistair sent word back that they found the tower where the Wardens are. They are waiting for you on the western side of the Approach." Harding informed them on their return to camp. Max grinned. "Real broad directions considering all of the Western Approach is on the west side."  
Harding scowled. "You know what I mean."  
Sera walked up to them. "Where can we stash all the treasure we found in the ruins?"  
"We can leave it here until we return to Skyhold."  
"Here?" Sera asked, appalled. "Where someone can take it?"  
"No one is going to take our money."  
"How do you know? Harding could feel she's owed a raise and take it."  
Max laughed. "Oh she's definitely due a raise. But she won't because she respects me too much to do something like that."  
Harding smirked. "I do?"  
Max threw up his hands and walked away, muttering to himself. "No respect for...next time they...I'll shove their so called respect right up their...ungrateful mongrels all."

It took them a few hours to reach Hawke and Alistair much less find them.  
They were both standing in front of a tall ancient tower overlooking a wide long chasm. Max said sidelong to Ellana, "If this isn't the edge of the world, I don't know what is."  
She grinned.  
Alistair and Lyna nodded to them as they approached. "Glad you could make it. We've seen lights coming from the tower."  
"Meaning the Wardens are up to something is what your saying."  
"What else is new?" Hawke scoffed. "Blood magic I'd wager. You can smell it's...and see the corpses. You guys take point. Merrill and I will watch your rears."  
Max led the way across a bridge to the tower. They could hear voices and the crud of demons.  
"Be ready." Max warned.  
They walked up some steps and were greeted with a confusing yet equally terrifying sight.  
Four Warden mages were standing next to Shades acting like that was an everyday thing. Each Mage had weird red magic flowing around their heads. A Rage Demon stood beside one of the Wardens. Piles of dead Wardens were lining the sides and a man with a long dark ponytail and a thin mustache was standing on a platform.  
He bowed as they approached. "Inquisitor! What an unexpected pleasure! Lord Livius Erimond of Vyrantium, at your service."  
"I'm guessing you're not a Warden." Lyna said.  
Erimond frowned. "But you are. The knife-ear who got lucky. And you found the Inquisitor and came to stop me. Shall we see how that goes?"  
Max grinned. "It seems that I'll have to thank you for doing some of my work for me." He said, gesturing towards the dead Wardens.  
"What? Them?" Erimond scoffed. "We just needed their blood. Oh. Were you hoping to garner sympathy? Maybe make the Wardens feel a bit of remorse? Wardens, hands up." He raised his arm and the Warden mages raised their own arms up.  
"Hands down." The mages dropped their hands.  
Max cursed.  
"Corypheus has enslaved them." Said Alistair in a worried tone.  
"Thank you for stating the obvious."  
Erimond grinned. "They did this to themselves. See, the Calling had the Wardens terrified. They looked everywhere for help."  
Lyna shook his head sadly. "Including Tevinter. You shems never learn do you?."  
Erimond eyes raised. "Yes, and since it was my master who placed the Calling into the Wardens little heads, we the Venatori were prepared. I went to Clarel full of sympathy and together, we came up with a plan. Raise a demon army, march into the Deep Roads, and kill the Old Gods before they wake."  
Max nodded, unsurprised. "Ah I was wondering when the demon army would show up."  
For a second, Erimond was caught off guard but he recollected himself quickly. "You knew about it? Well then, here we are. Sadly, this binding ritual I taught the Warden mages has a side effect. They are now my masters slaves. This was a test. Once the Wardens complete the ritual, the army will conquer Thedas."  
"So Corypheus made them do this?" asked Ellana.  
"What? No! Everything you see here, the demons, the binding, the Wardens did it of their own free will. Fear is a good motivator. And the Wardens were very afraid. The Wardens care about nothing save stopping the Blights. And they will do anything to do that. You should have seen Clarel agonize over the decision. Burdens of command I suppose."  
"Why would the Wardens want to kill the Old Gods?" Merrill asked.  
"A Blight happens when an Old God is tainted by darkspawn. If the Wardens could fight to the Old Gods and kill them before they can be corrupted, poof! No more Blights. Ever. The Wardens sacrifice their lives and save the world. Sadly, history will remember them a little differently now."  
Max clenched his fists. "So your using their desire to help save the world against them. Twisting their righteousness into darkness."  
"Poetic. Yes that's the plan. Though I don't see how you can do anything to stop it."  
Max nodded towards the Rift over their heads. "You think you can stand against me with a couple demons and a Rift? Did Corypheus not mention what I did to the Breach?"  
Erimond smiled cruelly. "He did. He also noted what he did to you at Haven." Erimond raised his hand and the same kind of red magic that Corypheus had used to hurt Max at Haven, swirled around his hand. The Anchor flared up with a mix of green and red magic and Max went to one knee. But Erimond was no way near as powerful as Corypheus was. The spell only momentarily halted the Anchor. In a moment, Max could feel that it was back to normal.  
Erimond was still talking. "The Elder Once showed me what to do with you, in the event you were foolish enough to interfere again. That Mark you bear? The Anchor that lets you pass safely from the Fade? You stole that from my master. He's been forced to seek other ways the access the Fade. When I bring him your head, his gratitude will be-." He was cut off abruptly when Max stood and opened the Rift suddenly which threw the man off his feet. Erimond rose shakily, favoring his right arm. "Kill them." Erimond said angrily as he fled.  
The Wardens and demons attacked but Max flicked his wrist and the Mark flared with power. A separate Rift opened and dragged all of the attackers into it. Max closed the Rift he had summoned, this time he did cry out in pain as opening his own Rifts was not something he did on a daily basis.  
Merrill and Hawke stared at him in awe. "That was incredible." Squeaked Merrill.  
Ellana helped steady Max. He grinned at her. "I am pretty incredible I agree."  
She raised her eyebrows and smiled. Then she slapped his arm. "You need to stop doing that."  
"It got rid of the bad guys didn't it?"  
"Max, it hurts you each time you do something like that."  
Max's eyes narrowed. "It hurts each time I use the Anchor. I'm used to it."  
Alistair and Lyna ran over. "So. That went well I assume." Hawke said pleasantly.  
Lyna seemed upset. "Aww. This always happens when we try to talk our way out of things."  
Hawke frowned. "You were right Alistair. Thanks to the ritual, the Warden mages are slaves to Corypheus."  
"And the Warden warriors?" Ellana sighed as Alistair shook his head. "Oh of course. It's not real blood magic unless someone gets sacrificed."  
Max shook his head. "Blood magic. Demon summoning. Who looks at this and thinks it's a good idea?"  
"The fearful and the hopeless."  
"Hawke, they made a mistake but they thought it was necessary." Alistair said.  
"I agree. But it’s still sad seeing an order with this kind of reputation going down a path like this,” Hawke said as Merrill frowned at him.   
“Where did their leader go?” Ellana asked.  
Alistair answered her. "I may know where the Wardens are. Erimond fled over that way." He pointed south of their position. "There's an abandoned Warden fortress in that direction: Adamant."  
Max grinned. "I guess they didn't want to summon a demon army out in public. I hear that looks bad to the general public.".  
Lyna laughed. "You don’t need to worry about public opinion. Wardens can literally pull off the weirdest shit and blame it on the Blight. After all, that’s how we get our recruits to drink darkspawn blood."  
Hawke smiled. "Alistair, Merrill, Lyna and I will scout out Adamant and confirm that the other Wardens are there. We'll meet you back at Skyhold."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------  
“Inquisitor, if you have a moment,” Blackwall called as Max walked past the barn.   
Max walked over to Blackwall and nodded.  
“Since Satinalia is approaching, and there are so many kids with refugee parents, I wanted to make toys with wood for them. Is it too much if I ask for a requisition for wood?”  
Max smiled. “Not at all. I’ll let Morris know of the supplies. In fact, let me help you. You probably need a helping hand, and I’m bored out of my mind with paperwork.”  
Blackwall proceeded to thank the Inquisitor profusely. Max walked over to Morris’s workshop and informed him that wood was required.  
“With what you have so far, what have you made, and what more can we make?” Max asked as he entered the barn.   
“So far, I’ve made 25 griffons rocking toys and 10 swords and shields. I’m thinking about ten more rocking toys, and 5 more swords and shields.”  
“Damn that’s a lot of wood,” Max rused.  
“I have wood for 3 more rocking toys. I’ll make one, and you can try to make one,” Blackwall said as Max agreed.

He had sacrificed all his sleep to build the griffon rocker. He asked for his building supplies to be delivered to his quarters, and made tea with a shit ton of stimulants. That is how, three days later, Josephine had caught him drooling on his rocker asleep in the morning.   
“Ow, what the f-” Max groaned as he woke up and looked around. He had made two rockers, one of them covered with drool.   
“Hawke and his party have confirmed that Adamant is teeming with Wardens and demons. And I have confirmed that I will bring the Iron Bull in and make him beat the shit out you if you don’t wake up!” Josephine said, yelling the last part as Max suddenly jumped up. He did not desire getting beaten up by Qunari.   
“So, Inquisitor, well made, but I order you to get more sleep before making more,” Blackwall said as Max exited his quarters and went back to the barn.   
“Fair enough,” Max said as carried the rockers back to the barn. Blackwall was right. They were well made, with a lot of attention to detail. There was also a lot of drool on one, but no matter.  
“Welp, it’s time to prepare for Adamant,” Max said as Blackwall looked up at the sky grimly.  
“Can’t say I look forward to that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Western Approach bit takes place in November. The Satinalia crafting part takes place in the end of November. I'm assuming Satinalia is December 25th. Make sure to comment on what you think! Thanks for reading!


	19. Adamant Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of feels in this chapter. Leave a kudos if you like it. Comment on what you think about it. Enjoy!

Max, Cassandra, and Lyna stepped inside the War Room where his advisors were already discussing the siege.

“Nice of you three to wait until the Inquisitor shows up.” Max said, a little annoyed that they had started without him.

Leliana acknowledged him but otherwise, continued speaking. And Max was fine with that. As far as he was concerned, the Spymaster could do whatever she wanted. Max wasn't brave enough to attempt to assert his authority over Leliana. Even when he was drunk, he knew the golden rule: never piss off a redhead and Leliana was no exception to that rule.

“Adamant Fortress has stood against the darkspawn since the time of the Second Blight.”

Cullen nodded. “Fortunately for us, that means it was built before the age of modern siege equipment. A good trebuchet will do major damage to those ancient walls. And thanks to our Lady Ambassador…”

Josephine smiled. “Lady Seryl of Jader was pleased to lend the Inquisition her sappers. They've already delivered the trebuchets.”

“That is the good news.” Leliana said.

“Yes but none of that accounts for the Wardens summoning a giant demon army.” Max stated.

Leliana sighed. “That is the bad news.”

“The Inquisition forces can breach the gate, but if the Wardens already have their demons…” Cullen said with a shake of his head.

Lyna cleared her throat. “And who says breaching the gate will be easy? Wardens are made up of some of the most talented warriors, mages, and scouts in all of Thedas. The Inquisition forces are made up of normal soldiers if not civilians taught to swing a sword. Not to mention the fact that the Wardens believe they have to do this in order to save the world. What makes you think your men will be able to beat them, Commander Cullen?”

Cullen glared at him. “Because I trained them and it won't just be Inquisition forces. You’ll be helping them.”

“You want me to help your men kill my brethren?” Lyna said, bristling with anger.

“Hero, Commander, stop this right now. Hero, neutralize them. You don’t kill, but you still have to help out somehow. I’m sorry but it’s what it is,” Max said as Lyna calmed down.

“Okay, I can do that.”

“I found records of Adamant’s construction. There are choke points we can use to limit the field of battle.”

“That's good. Cullen nodded. “We may not be able to defeat them outright..” He glanced at Lyna before continuing. “But if we cut off reinforcements, we can clear a path to Warden Commander Clarel.”

Max grinned. “So our master plan is to lay siege to a legendary fortress filled with demons? Not bad as far as good plans go.”

“It'll be hard fought, no way around it. But we’ll get that gate open.” Cullen said confidently.

“It's also possible that some Wardens might be sympathetic to our cause.” Josephine cut in.

“The Warriors better be willing to listen to reason. Though I doubt they will turn against Clarel directly. The mages however are slaves to Corypheus. Meaning they'll fight to the death.” Lyna said.

“Yippee.” Max said,

“We've built the siege engines and readied our forces, Inquisitor. Give the word and we march on Adamant.” Cullen said.

Max grinned. “Word.”

\----------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------

It took the Inquisition just under a week in a half to get the Western Approach. The journey was slow for there was so many things that needed to be brought, rations, drinkable water, extra weapons and armor, the siege weapons, and of course all the soldiers. But due to Cullen’s rigorous training, the Inquisition was able to travel efficiently and carefully. Soon, the ancient walls of Adamant could be seen off in the distance. The Inquisition set about making camp and aiming the trebuchets. They were due to begin their attack shortly after night fell. Which, because they were in a desert, arrived early. Each soldier took the time to talk to friends or loved ones before the siege began. You never knew who would survive. And Hawke was no exception.

He, like Lyna and Max, was talking to his ‘inner circle’ as Max put it. The plan was simple. Max and his companions would help storm the front gate along with Cullen, Lyna and her companions would scale the walls to the left and Hawke and his family of misfits would scale the walls to the right. All would help the Inquisition forces when possible but their main goal was to reach Clarel before she brought an army of demons and whatnot through whatever blood magic was being used.

Hawke was busy boosting the morale of his family (Consisting of him, Merrill, Varric and Fenris, who he had found chilling in an Orlesian Villa.) while simultaneously going over the usual plan.

“Right. Varric and Bianca, make passionate love out there killing some demons. Fenris, go crazy and fist the shit out of the demons. And Merrill, please be careful out there.”

Varric grinned. “Showing favoritism are we, Hawke?”

“Maybe. Alright guys and gals, let's go kick some Warden and demon ass! Good thing Anders and Justice aren't here to hear me say that. But still, let's get at ‘em!”

The group walked off to their positions. Before Hawke could join them, Merrill pulled him to the side.

“Yes, Ma Vhenan?” He asked innocently.

Merrill hugged him fiercely. “You made everyone else promise to stay safe but you didn't say anything about yourself. Promise me you'll stay safe.” She said softly.

“Merrill…”

“Hawke. Promise me.”

“Merrill, it’s alright,” Hawke said as he cupped Merrill face and kissed his love. He knew he couldn’t give enough thanks to the Maker and her Creators for her. She was the one who helped him get through his brother’s death, his sister leaving him, and his mother’s death. All the while going through her own problems. Even if he becomes the most pious and saintly man for a thousand years, he still won’t deserve Merrill. His love. His Vhenan.

Noticing that she was still crying, he whispered, “Stop worrying Merrill. I always come back.”

She wiped off her tears and smiled. “Come Vhenan, it’s time to join the others.”

\--------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------------

Max smiled at his sister as she scowled at him. Grace had insisted on coming with them. She wanted to help and frankly, she was getting restless cooped up in Skyhold all the time. And Max knew that there was no changing her mind. She was every bit as stubborn as Cassandra, who was walking beside him.

“Chin up, Grace.”

“This is serious. We are heading off to do battle. Where one of us might get killed.”

“You are such a downer.”

Ellana laughed as she walked up to them. “He’s right you know. You gotta have an attitude when you’re walking into battle. It’s like a ‘Oh shit, why i am i here?’ or a ‘Yeah, let’s pummel demons and not preferably Wardens.’ You know what I mean?” 

Grace shook her head and walked off, leaving Max and Ellana alone. Awkward.

“So, nice clear, green skies. Pretty normal don’t you think?” Max asked as Ellana sighed and ran to catch up with Grace.

His friends followed him as the Inquisition surged forward, to battle. The trebuchets fired, sending chunks of burning rock sailing into Adamant’s once mighty walls.

Inquisition archers shot at Warden archers atop the walls. Soldiers threw rocks and stones.

The Inquisition reached the walls and began climbing up ladders to engage the Wardens on the top. Max and the others stayed back behind the battering ram that his forces pushed to the front gate. It took several tries, but they finally got the gate to crash down.

Max, followed by Blackwall and Cassandra, charged forward, past the destroyed gate and into a small group of Shades and a Warden Mage. Max jumped to the side as one Shade swiped at him then slashed its throat. Blackwall raised his shield up just in time to deflect a ball of fire fired by the Mage. Sera stepped in the fortress and masterfully nocked, aimed, and shot her bow, the arrow sticking the Mage in his neck. His hand we to his neck but the blow had already been dealt. He crumpled to the sandy floor, lifeless. Bull stepped in swinging his massive axe on top of some poor Shade’s head, killing it instantly. The Qunari grinned happily. “One less demon for you to fight, Boss.”

“Thank you immeasurably, Bull.”

“Great form.” Alistair said cheerfully.

Cullen stepped in behind the mages in their group and nodded to Max. “All right Inquisitor. You have your way in. Best make use of it. We’ll keep the main host of demons occupied for as long as we can.”

The statement did not give Max that boost of confidence he was looking for.

“That's a worrying lack of specificity there, Commander.”

“There are more of them than I was hoping Inquisitor.” Cullen felt the need to explain.

“You don't say. And here I thought we could just stroll up and ask the Wardens to stop summoning demons and go join us for tea.”

“Warden Alistair will guard your back. Hawke, Lyna and her associates are with our soldiers on the battlements. They are assisting until you arrive.”

There was a scream and an Inquisition soldier was thrown off the battlements by a Greater Shade demon. The soldier was dead before he hit the ground.

“There too much resistance on the walls. Our men on the ladders can't get a foothold. If you can clear out the enemies on the battlements, we’ll cover your advance.”

“Okay. Well, good luck to you commander,” Max said as Grace walked up and kissed Cullen. “Be safe, Cullen.”

“For you my love, always.” Cullen said as they gave each other doe-eyed looks and walked off.

*Young love,* Max thought. *So sappy, but refreshing to see at the same time. Reassuring that at least somebody is happy.*

\-----------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

Lyna parried the strike and hit the attacker with the butt of her sword. The attacker staggered and she moved to thrust her sword into the man's gut. But she froze at the last second. She couldn't do this.

Her attacker, seeing Lyna falter, risked a moment to study her. The woman wore light Warden armor with the badge of Commander strapped to her chest. On her back was a Dalish longbow and in her hands were two Elven made Daggers crackling with electricity. With a jolt, the attacker realized that the woman he had been fighting was none other than the Hero of Ferelden.

He took a step back, complete awe spread across his face. But the light was snuffed out of his eyes as a stray arrow found its mark.

Lyna flinched as his fellow Warden slumped to the ground with an Inquisition arrow lodged in his spine. Her hands trembled, nearly losing his grip on his swords. She hated this. She knew he had to do this in order to save the Wardens from their own stupidity but with each killing blow he dealt, a part of her died with her fellow Wardens. It tore at her soul. She was murdering each and every member of the Order that saved her life. Without the Wardens, without Duncan, without Alistair, she wouldn’t have survived. At all. The Wardens were supposed to be righteous heroes, protecting those who cannot protect themselves from the darkness that has poisoned the world and her. And now, they had let the darkness seep in. Allowed it to corrupt them. Even after so they had fallen so far, Lyna couldn’t kill them. He wouldn’t.

Lost in thought, he didn’t hear the Shade sliding up to him. Luckily, Revas was guarding her back. He leapt onto the Shade and tore its throat out. Then he walked over to Lyna and nudged her side with his head, wagging his tail. She ruffled the fur on his head and looked around. Alistair was whacking a couple Rage Demons aside, Bull was busy doing battle with a small group of cowering Wardens, Blackwall was bellowing at the top of his lungs as he cleaved his battleaxe through a few mages, and Max was protecting Leliana as she shot arrow after arrow into the Warden ranks. She had refused to listen to reason and was determined to see that the person she considered her sister was safe and sound.

How could they all kill the Wardens this easily? How could they not hesitate to enact the final blows? How could they remain so calm as they decimated the Warden ranks, the same ranks that helped stop the Blight all those years ago? Lyna didn’t understand how they could do this with a clear head.

Soon, with the help of the heroes, the Inquisition slowly began to push the Wardens back, clearing the way for more help to arrive. The closely bonded group reunited.

Leliana gave Lyna a stern look. “You are pulling your attacks.”

“I can’t do it. I can’t kill my brethren. Even if they are summoning demons. I can’t help destroy the Order that I’ve been apart of for nigh on a decade. I can’t and I won’t.”

“Lyna, the Wardens cannot go through with their plan. And no matter how much you will them to stop, they won’t. They think they have to do this in order to save the world.”

“They can still make this right! I have to believe that. I won’t give up them. I won’t.” Lyna said, on the brink of tears.

Alistair stepped over and curled his giant arms over her protectively. She was trembling and breathing shakily.

It was a mistake to bring her along. Its hurting her too much, seeing her once called brethren get killed. She should have stayed back at Skyhold. He thought. *Curse the Maker.* *Why can’t this woman take a break when she has gone through so much suffering?*

She buried her head in his shoulder and held him tightly. “I won’t. I can’t kill the people who saved my life.” She whimpered.

“Lyna look at me.”

She looked up at his amber eyes. He looked sad. “They aren’t going to force us to kill any Wardens. You just focus on killing the demons and stopping Clarel from going through with Erimond’s plan. Let them worry about your brethren.” He kissed her forehead. “I know exactly how you feel. It’s hard, killing the people who gave you a life worth living life. The people who gave you the person you love. But we have to do it. If we have to save the world, we have to do it.”

Lyna took a shaky breath. “I can do that. I’ll go find Max and Cassandra and help them confront Clarel. Maybe I can get through to her if they can’t.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Bull said.

Alistair gave Lyna a light kiss on her cheek. “Stay safe.”

Lyna nodded. “I always do. When I come back, we’ll have a nice romantic dinner.”

“Looking forward to it.”

\------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------

“FUCK!” Max yelled as he barely missed a Warden’s arrow. Behind him were a bunch of wraiths  and shades.

“FUCK YOU DEMONS!” Max yelled as he twin fanged the Warden. Using his body as a trampoline, Max jumped onto a shade as time seemed to slow down. He slit the throat of the shade as he looked over and saw Sera trying to fend off a terror demon. 

“FUCK YOU!” Max threw his dagger across the battlefield at the demon. It instantly collapsed, and the dagger returned back to Max’s hand. That was the beauty of Dagna’s rune. It somehow attracted the metal in the dagger at will and brought it back to Max in a flash.

“AND FUCK YOU TOO!” Ellana screamed as she charged at a shade materializing behind Max and cut it in half. “Thanks,” Max said as he ran off to help his friends.

Dorian was now swinging his staff against some wraiths. Blackwall and Cassandra were fighting a horde of shades on their own. Bull and his Chargers were fighting Wardens. Max ran around and helped all of them before stopping to catch a breath. 

Suddenly, he became dizzy, and fell over. He could faintly hear someone screaming his name, and frantic running.

“YOU FUCKER! YOU BETTER NOT DIE ON ME! YOU  _ SHEMLEN _ ASSHOLE!” Ellana screamed as she slid next to Max and slapped him. He still didn’t wake up. “Don’t leave me Max. Please don’t. Don’t die, Lethallin.” Blackwall and Cassandra ran up to them. 

“I don’t think he’s going to wake up. At least, not for now.” Cassandra said as Ellana cried.

“Bull, come here and carry the Herald,” Blackwall said as Bull ran over to the four.

“Shouldn’t we drop him off?”

“There isn’t enough time,” Blackwall said as Bull picked Max up and hoisted him on his shoulders.

“Chargers! The boss is down, and I’m carrying him. Protect me, and fight the demons. GO!”

The Chargers ran with Bull and fought demons and Wardens along the way. Hawke and his party were fighting the demons and Wardens on the right, while Lyna and Alistair were accompanying Inquisition troops and pushing up the left side. 

\----------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------

**Lyna**

“Lyna!” A familiar elf screamed. Zevran ran, with Oghren close behind as they spotted their old friends.

“What are you guys doing here?” Lyna asked. 

“Alistair contacted us and asked to come here and fight with you. Thankfully, the many Fereldans in the Inquisition army let us through. And here we are,” Zevran replied with a smile.

“Good, because we need help!” Alistair yelled as he jumped in front of Lyna and took a blast from a wraith. Lyna went into stealth and sneaked behind the Warden, proceeding to stab his leg to decapitate him. Zevran ran forward and sliced the throat as the party ran on.

“Zevran, what are you doing here?” Leliana asked as she shot arrows at demons.

“Worry about that later. Fight now!” Oghren yelled as he ran up to a terror demon and started fighting it. Soon, he killed it and motioned for them to follow him. They saw Ellana, Grace, Blackwall, the Chargers, Dorian, Cassandra, and Bull carrying a body. Upon closer inspection, she realized Max was knocked unconscious and was bleeding. 

They warily made their way the stairs. As they walked, they could hear shouts. It sounded like Warden warriors fighting some of their Mage brethren. They picked up the pace and reached the bottom. A small group of Warden Warriors were fighting a group of Shades and a couple mages. 

“I take it we are helping them?” Bull asked.

Lyna nodded and Vivienne, Solas, Dorian, Grace, and Sera quickly dispatched the demons and enemy mages. 

The remaining Wardens kept their weapons up, unsure of if they should engage this new group of potential enemies or to let them pass.

The leader of the group of warriors eyed Lyna cautiously. “Are you to fight us?”

Lyna shook her head and said above the sounds of battle, “The Inquisition is here to stop Clarel, not to kill Wardens. If you fall back now, you won't be harmed.”

The leader nodded. “All right. My men will stay back. We want no part in this.”

They quickly fell back. 

“Nicely done.” Alistair said, obviously pleased with the outcome. “I'm glad at least some of them could be reasoned with.”

“Hopefully the rest of the Order can be as well.” Grace said.

Suddenly they heard an explosion and Hawke’s voice coming from overhead. 

Lyna and the others hurried up the steps leading to where the Champion was and burst onto the next floor level, ready for battle. But there was no need. Hawke was jumping off the back of a large dead Pride demon with several Despair Demons lying around him and one of his infamous grins split upon his heavily bearded face. Bright teeth shone past his brown facial hair. “Hero! Always a pleasure.”

“Did you kill these demons all by yourself?” Ellana asked in awe.

Hawke looked around at the bodies of the dead demons around him. “Well since I am the only person around, I believe I did. Ah if only Varric saw this.”

“Where is Varric by the way?” Asked Cassandra. 

“Showing concern for the little rascal are you?” Hawke teased her.

“Ugh.”

Hawke grinned. “Varric is with the rest of my party. We were kicking demon and Warden ass up here when a messenger came running, saying that the Inquisition needed help on the ramparts. I volunteered to watch their flanks and they ran off. Shortly after these demons rounded the corner. So I killed them and here you are.”

“That doesn't explain the explosion we heard that came from up here.” Vivienne said. 

Hawke winked and patted what looked to be like a tune on his belt. “I have my ways. Anyway, what now Lyna?”

*Why the hell did he ask me?* Lyna thought. *Think. Think. THINK* Lyna yelled at herself as she saw the others ready for her orders. “I want you to stay with my forces and see that Max’s men survive this.”

Hawke nodded and raced away. “I'll try to keep the demons off them as best I can!”

Dorian raised an eyebrow in question. “You sure sending one man will help?”

“Hawke has handled far worse than just a bunch of demons and Warden mages.” Cassandra defended the bearded man. “Or so Varric has told me.”

“Come on. Let's go help secure those siege points and give the Inquisition a couple more footholds.” Max ordered. 

They moved out slowly, careful not to get ambushed. Blackwall and Alistair took the lead, with Vivienne and Solas behind them, Dorian and Sera walked on the sides, following Cassandra and Lyna while Grace was close behind with Zevran and Oghren guarding their flanks.  

They made short work of the demons at the siege points then made their way down towards the main courtyard. Along the way they caught back up with Hawke who was helping a couple of soldiers fend off a Rage demon. They dispatched the demon quickly, giving the soldiers time to catch their breath.

One of the soldiers saluted Lyna. “Hawke saved a lot of lives on the battlements, Hero.”

Hawke winked. “Naturally. Some of the new recruits have been willing to stand down. It would be nice if we could avoid more bloodshed. Just saying.”

The soldier saluted once more. “Commander Cullen will hold a path open for us as long as possible, Inquisitor. Our forces are ready when you are.”

Lyna nodded. “Let's get this over with.” 

They headed towards the main courtyard and as they moved closer, joined by Hawke’s party, they could hear a woman's voice above the cries of battle.

“Wardens! We are betrayed by the very world we are sworn to protect.”

Then they heard the familiar voice of Erimond. “The Inquisition is already inside, Clarel. We have no time to stand on ceremony.”

Zevran nudged Lyna . “Found her.”

“These men and women are giving their lives, magister. That might mean little in Tevinter but for the Wardens, it is a sacred duty.” 

“At least she still knows what duty is.” Muttered Alistair. 

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

They pushed open some wide metal doors and stepped into a large courtyard. A big group of Wardens crowded around a rather large Rift. Through the Rift, They could see a giant demon. 

The giant rift excited Max’s hand, suddenly waking him up. He screamed, jumping off Bull’s arms.

“What happened? Where am I?” Max yelled, his eyes bloodshot and his face covered with sweat. 

“Calm down. We’re at the courtyard, fighting the baddies. You know, the Wardens and Demons,” Hawke said as Oghren, Lyna and Alistair glared at him. Suddenly, a Pride Demon appeared, covered with lightning and eyes.

He had seen some big monsters in his time but this thing, whatever it was, won the cake. Hell if he had to be honest, it won the entire meal.

As they entered, several of the Wardens readied their weapons, expecting a fight.

Erimond noticed them enter and shouted an order. “Stop them! We must complete the ritual!”

Max shouted back at the magister. “I'm sure you can't wait for Clarel to do that. How else are you going to bind her?”

“Yes Inquisitor, I want to bind the Warden Commander to a demon. Everyone in this room already knows that!” Erimond said sarcastically.

“And yes, the ritual requires blood sacrifice. Hate me for that if you wish but do not hate the Wardens for doing their duty!”

Clarel nodded. She was an aging woman with a shaved head dressed in Warden robes and had a staff in her hands. Her Orlesian accent stuck out immediately. “We make the sacrifice no one else will. Our warriors die proudly for a world that will never thank them.”

Suddenly an arrow embedded itself in the ground between her feet. Everyone turned to face the direction where the arrow had come from. Standing on a large block of stone behind Max and the others and a little to the right, was Lyna, now in his hands and a determined stare set on his face as he looked at Clarel. “And then that magister binds your mages to Corypheus!” She shouted as he jumped down from the block and calmly walked over to stand beside Max and Hawke. 

Clarel was clearly shocked. “Corypheus? But he's dead.”

“These people will say anything to shake your confidence, Clarel. Why listen to some random washed up Warden?”

“I am not some random Warden.” Lyna snapped. “I am Lyna Mahariel, Hero and Warden Commander of Ferelden. And I have seen Corypheus with my own eyes and he is as alive as the people here.”

Clarel closed her eyes for a moment, obviously thinking. She reopened them and said, “Bring it through.”

Erimond grinned as the mages assembled started pouring energy into the Rift, expanding it. 

Max and the others moved forward as did the Warden warriors. 

“Please. I have seen more than my fair share of blood magic. It is never worth the cost!” Hawke pleaded.

Alistair nodded. “I helped fight the Archdemon in Ferelden. Could you consider listening to me?” 

Lyna said angrily, “And I killed the Archdemon! You'd think that would at least give some doubts.”

“Be ready with the ritual Clarel.” Erimond said. “This demon is truly worthy of your strength.”

Max cursed. “Listen to me! I have no quarrel with the Wardens! I have spared those of you I could. I don't want to kill you but your being used...and some of you know, don't you?”

A few of the Warriors faltered, unsure of what to do next. 

One spoke up against Clarel who said, “Do not let fear cloud your judgment Warden Chernoff.”

Hawke shook his head. “He's not afraid. You're afraid. You're scared you sent all these good people to die for nothing!”

“Please! I faced my own share of blood magic, and it’s never worth it!” Merrill shouted, much to Hawke’s surprise. “The demons may say they mean good, but they are always malicious. They will always triumph if you let them control you!”

Lyna too shook his head. “If this was a fight against future Blights, you'd be damn sure I would be at your side but it's a lie!”

Erimond turned to Clarel. “Clarel, we have come so far. You are the only one who can do this.”

“Perhaps we could test the truth of these charges, to avoid more bloodshed.”

Erimond sneered. “Or perhaps I should bring in a more reliable ally.” He tapped his staff on the ground and the same red magic he had used at the Approach seeped out. 

That's not good.

“My master thought you might interfere again, Inquisitor! He sent me this to welcome you!” Erimond shouted as Corypheus’s pet dragon roared and flew by overhead. 

All the Wardens stared in shock at what appeared to be another Archdemon. It flew around the courtyard before landing on the top of the fortress and stared at them. 

Clarel looked at the dragon then at Erimond. With a snarl she sent a burst of energy into Erimond knocking him off his feet. He looked up at her with worry. “Clarel, wait.” He said shakily. Clarel ignored him and sent a bolt of lightning at the dragon. It swung it's massive head towards her and shot a ball of red fire at her. She jumped out of the way. She turned back to Erimond who had started to run away. She ran after him before shouting, “Help the Inquisitor!” 

Max and the others quickly overwhelmed the few mages that were slaves to Corypheus. 

“We need to go after her!” Shouted Lyna before she ran off, followed by Hawke and Alistair and Blackwall. Max turned to his companions. “We’ll go after her. You all stay here and make sure we aren't followed.” Grace stepped up to him. “I'm coming with you.”

Max shook his head. “I need you to stay here and help the others. I'll be fine. I'll be with three of the best fighter in Thedas. I think I will be okay.”

She pecked a kiss on his cheek. “Stay safe.” She whispered.

“Yes ma'am.” 

Max turned and ran after the others. Up through several walkways and up to the top of the fortress. Max joined the other three men as they watched Clarel deal with Erimond. 

“You! You've destroyed the Grey Wardens!” Clarel shouted, furious.

With a burst of energy from her staff, she sent Erimond steaming on the ground, rocking. He laughed weakly. “You did that to yourself you stupid bitch. All I did was dangle a little power in front of your eyes and you couldn't wait to get your hands bloody.” 

With a snarl, Clarel shot him all the to the front of the bridge. 

“I will never serve the Blight.” She stated.

“Well glad that takes care of things.” Hawke said.

Suddenly, the dragon landed, taking Clarel in its jaws and flying around before landing once more and swinging its head. It spat Clarel out and she landed on the floor, crumpled and dying. Max and the others backed up towards the edge of bridge as the dragon neared. As it passed over Clarel she coughed. “In war, victory…”

Another step. “In peace, vigilance.” Right as the dragon leaped, Clarel sent the last of her energy up into its belly in a ball of lightning. The dragon toppled to the floor, causing it to crumple. It slid off the edge of the bridge but before it could fall, it unfurled its wings and took flight. 

The bridge shook as it started to fall apart.

Max shouted an order to get off but the other four people already knew. They hurried to reach safety. Lyna stumbled and clung to the edge of the bridge. Max dove back and grabbed him before he could fall. Max shoved the Warden forward before he staggered. The bridge collapsed. 

Max put out his hands as if that would stop the fall from killing him. Suddenly there was a blinding green light and the last thing max remembered was thinking one thought: Shit.

\---------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------------

Hawke fell through what felt like a portal. He flowed through, and saw green. *Merrill. No. I left her. And I don’t know if I can come back. I promised her. That I would come back.*

\-----------------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------

Lyna and Alistair fell side by side into the rift. They had somehow found time to hold hands, and smile at each other.

\-----------------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------

Blackwall cried. For all of his missed chances. Missed penances. And Josephine. He especially cried for the Antivan’s embrace. Her warmth. Maker, her perfume. Everything.


	20. Adamant Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of feels. Also, thoughts of suicide, and actual suicide/sacrifice. So, be warned.

“FUCK!” Max screamed as he kept falling and falling. He surrounded by the weird shade of green the mark was, with it sputtering and stuttering, sending pain throughout his body. Suddenly, he stopped right next to the floor. Then he fell. He heard four more thuds, and woke up to see Lyna and Alistair standing sideways on a rock, Hawke standing upside down on a floating cloud, and Blackwall a few feet away from him.

“Weird. In the circle, it wasn’t this bad,” Lyna said as Alistair nodded.

“I know what you mean. When we went into the Fade, it wasn’t … this chaotic, per se. It was more solid,” Hawke replied as Max guffawed.

“Seems like there’s a requirement to be a hero. You have to have been in the Fade at least once.”

“How about we discuss this as we go on?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------

Blackwall looked around frantically. One second, he saw the Inquisitor and the Hero and the Champion. The beacons of light. Then, he was surrounded by green clouds. Clouds with visions.

 

_ Blackwall walked through the doors and into Josephine’s office. His face lit up as he saw his love’s face, but dipped as he saw her expression. Apprehension gripped him as he saw her reading a letter. *What is this about?* He thought as he walked over. _

_ “My love?” Blackwall asked as he touched Josephine’s hand. She suddenly looked at him and jumped back in fear.  _

_ “Get away from me! Traidor!” Josephine screamed as Blackwall stepped back. _

_ “Is everything alright my love? Too much stress?” Blackwall asked as Josephine got a look of anger. _

_ “You son  of a bitch! You hide your identity like a coward, parade around like you’re a Warden, pretend to care for me, and you act like everything’s fine? Everything’s not fine! I thought I loved a noble and kind Warden. But no! I had loved a cowardly commander who didn’t have the spine to own up the fact that he killed innocents and betrayed his men! Get out of Skyhold! GET OUT!” Josephine yelled as she ran and slapped Blackwall. _

\------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

Max slapped Blackwall. He suddenly woke up and looked around with bloodshot eyes.

“Where the hell am I?” He asked. “And where is Josephine? I need to apologize.”

Hawke raised his eyebrows. “You’re in the fade. Remember, after Adamant. Josephine’s in Skyhold,”

Blackwall slapped himself. “There’s the rift where we came from,” He said as he pointed to it. “That’s the way to go,”

“Strong, direct to the point. I like it,” Lyna said with a minxy smile as Alistair frowned at her.

“Ahem. Moving on,” Max said as he started to walk into the distance.

\---------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------

“What were you seeing when we slapped you?” Lyna asked Blackwall as they walked. 

“Nothing you need to worry about, Commander.”

“You’re not a Warden. You don’t need to call me that,” Lyna said as Blackwall stared at her. “What, I’m not an idiot. Wardens detect other Wardens, and I can’t detect the Taint in you. But, you do good work to help the people, so I let you go.”

“Please don’t tell anybody,” Blackwall said with pleading eyes.

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“You asked me what I was experiencing. It was my worst nightmare. I love Josephine, with all my life and heart. But in my nightmare, Josephine found my secret and kicked me out. She dumped me. Broke my heart,” Blackwall said as Lyna put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry. Even with your secret, you’re still a good man, who does good work. Nothing will change that.”

“Your view will change real soon, Hero. Real soon.”

\------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

“Watch out. You’ll probably get invaded by visions of your worst nightmares,” Lyna said as she rejoined the group. 

“Great, and here I was, sleeping peacefully knowing the Darkspawn won’t get me,” Max said as everybody looked at him. 

“Why’re you afraid of the darkspawn?” Alistair asked. “Don’t take me wrong, they’re scary, but you’re not a Warden. You don’t really experience Darkspawn.”

Lyna motioned Alistair to knock it off, which Alistair thankfully did. They kept walking and turned the corner when Max’s landscape turned. 

_ It showed the Plains, where his fear and hatred of Darkspawn started. And Caitwyn was standing there. Thing was, she was not her usual self. Instead, she had inflated, growing grosestique and barely recognizable. _

_ “My love,” Max said as tears threatened to break through the barriers of his eyes. He fell to his knees, openly crying and grieving for the soulmate he had lost. His confidante, his best friend, his heart. _

_ “You said we’d live together! Forever! In a quaint countryside, with kids running around as I bake the bread and you cook the meat!” The beast once formerly called Caitwyn groaned. “You’d said we’d die together! Side by side!” _

_ “My love, I’m sorry. It was my fault, we shouldn’t have taken that route,” Max cried. He still remembered it like it was yesterday. Caitwyn and Max argued on which way to go. Caitwyn had wanted to go to Highever and take a ship to Ostwick. Max however had wanted to travel to Jader and take a ship there, to avoid suspicion. Max had won, and they had to pass through plains to go to Jader from South Reach. When they passed through the plains, all hell had broken loose. _

_ “YOU BETRAYED ME! YOU KILLED ME! BECAUSE OF YOU, MY SISTER AND I COULDN’T LIVE IN PEACE! I DON’T LOVE YOU MAX! I HATE YOU! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MADE ME INTO THIS MONSTER!” Caitwyn kept yelling as Max broke down even more. _

_ “Do you want me to join you?” _

_ Caitwyn nodded as Max took a deep breath and brought his stiletto up to his throat. He muttered a thanks to the Maker for all of his memories, good and bad, and went to slit his throat. _

\---------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

“Not today, motherfucker,” Hawke muttered as he threw a knife at Max’s stiletto and ran towards it. 

“What the hell happened?” Hawke asked as Max got up, wiped his tears, and hugged Hawke. Intensly.

“Get off, get off.” He yelled as he pushed Max off. “You’re crushing my damn ribs.

\--------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------------

_ “Ar lath ma vhenan.” Lyna said as she kissed Alistair.  _

_ “I love you too Lyna. With my heart and my life.” _

_ “Feels great doesn’t it? To be rid of every problem in the world? To relax and live life without death and suffering?” _

_ “Nothing’s better. Other than spending this with you,” Alistair said with a smile. “If we had a block of cheese, it would be even better!” _

_ “Silly. I have cheese inside. I’ll get it,” Lyna said as she walked towards the house.  _

_ “Love, wait,” Alistair said as he got up and the sky’s color changed. It was black, with roars in the background. _

_ “LYNA!” Alistair yelled as he ran into the house and saw a Broodmother standing in Lyna’s place. _

_ “LOVE ME ALISTAIR!”  the mother groaned. “LOVE ME, KISS ME, TOUCH ME LIKE YOU DID BEFORE. WHY WON’T YOU DO IT ALISTAIR! WHYYYYYY.” the mother groaned on as Alistair got a sword and stabbed it. _

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, now that we all had our dreams, let’s go to that rift!” Hawke yelled cheerfully as he ran off to the rift, followed by the others.

They were standing at the edge of a vast murky swath of land. Max hadn’t talked the entire time on the way back. He shuffled past the others, towards what seemed to be a normal light coming from the other side of the clearing. The four crossed the clearing and climbed up a slope. At the top, they all stopped and stared at the old woman that looked to have been waiting for them. 

“Anyone else see the creepy old lady?” Hawke asked, unsure of if she was just another illusion.

Blackwall looked shocked. “What? That can't be…Divine Justinia?”

Max peered at the Divine. Like a typical member of the clergy, she wore Chantry robes. She had kind hazel eyes and white hair. Her skin was wrinkled from old age. She nodded at them pleasantly. “I greet you, Warden. And you, Champion.” She had an accent that Max couldn't quite place.

Hawke gave a tired sigh. “Well...this is awkward.”

Max was thoroughly confused. “Back at Haven, I saw...I thought I saw...How can you be here?”

Alistair shook his head. “She isn't. Things in the Fade have a tendency to show up looking like people you know. Demons, mostly.”

“You think my survival here impossible, yet here you stand alive in the Fade yourselves.” Justinia said in her defense.

“In truth, proving my existence either way would require time we do not have.”

Hawke nodded, unconvinced. “Really? How hard is it to answer one question? I'm a human, and you are…”

“I am here to help you.” She said kindly.

She turned to Max. “You do not remember what happened at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, Inquisitor.” She said it so surely that it proved that she wasn't the actual Divine. “The real Divine would have no way of knowing I'd been made Inquisitor.” Max said, a little on edge. If she was not the Divine, who, or what, was she?

“I have because I have examined memories like yours, stolen by the demon serves Corypheus. It is the Nightmare you forget upon waking. It feeds off memories of fear and darkness, growing fat upon the terror. The false Calling that terrified the Wardens into making such grave mistakes? It's work.”

Blackwall growled. “I'd like to have a few words with this Nightmare about that.”

Alistair nodded. “I'd say those words are long overdue.”

“You will have your chance, brave Wardens. This place of darkness is its lair.”

Max shivered. He was afraid of this.

“The big demon Erimond was trying to bring through?”

“Yes.” Justinia said.

“It's nearby?”

“Yes.”

“Well, shit.”

“When you entered the Fade at Haven, the demon took a part of you. Before you do anything else, you must recover it.” She gestured to four Wraiths that materialized a few feet away. “These are your memories, Inquisitor.”

Max dove to the side as the Wraiths shot their magic at them. Great. Couldn't my memories be written down on some old scroll or something instead of being demons?

Luckily, the Wraiths were very easy to get rid off. When they died, they left behind some type of essence. When Max got close to one, the Anchor shook, reacting to whatever magic the essences. Max clenched his hand and the essences were somehow absorbed into the Anchor. He gasped as the air around them swirled with magic. 

He could see the Divine being suspended in the air by some kind of red magic back in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. A group of Warden mages were using magic to keep her from moving. Suddenly he heard a voice he recognized all too well. Corypheus came into view, carrying the orb he had used against Max at Haven. 

The Divine turned her head to the Wardens and pleaded, “Why are you doing this? You of all people?”

“Keep the sacrifice still.” Ordered Corypheus. He had already taken the mage’s minds.

He extended his gnarled hand and the orb glowed with the same kind of green magic the Anchor pulsed with. The two different magics began to react with each other. Whatever was happening was clearly hurting the Divine. “Someone help me!” She yelled out.

The door to the room opened and max saw himself enter. He suddenly remembered why he had been at the Temple that day. He had traveled there because he knew that there was going to be hundreds of mages there who could help him with his nightmares. He wanted to see if there was a way to make them go away. He was exploring the Temple looking for the Senior Enchanters when he heard the Divine call for help. 

“What's going on here?” The Max in the vision shouted.

The interruption disrupted Corypheus’s concentration long enough for the Divine the knock the orb out of his hand. It bounced away towards Max. The vision Max hurried over to it and picked up the orb with his left hand. The hand that the Anchor would soon be on. Vision Max screamed in pain as the Anchor was carved into his hand. Unstable magical energy flowed around him. Corypheus, with a roar of anger, ran to him, intent on getting his orb back. Seconds before his hands would have touched the orb in Max's hands, the magic pouring out of the orb caused an explosion. The same explosion that killed the thousands of other people at the Temple. 

Max gasped as the vision faded away. They were back in the present.

Alistair shook his head. “So that mark on your hand...it wasn't sent by Andraste. It came from the orb Corypheus was using.”

“Corypheus intended to rip open the Veil, use the Anchor to enter the Fade, and throw open the doors to the Black City.” Justinia explained. “Not for the Old Gods but for himself. When you disrupted his plan, the orb bestowed the Anchor upon you instead.”

“That's it?” Max bristled with anger. 

“Yes.”

“That tells me nothing! Not about Corypheus or a weakness for the demon...or even a way out of here! All it tells me is that I should break his damned orb next time it starts glowing!”

“Yet even that information may one day help you. You cannot escape the lair of the Nightmare until you regain all that it took from you. You have recovered some of yourself, but now it knows you are here. You must make haste. I will prepare the way ahead.” Justinia said before she disappeared. 

Well that proves that she isn't human.

Blackwall looked sidelong at Hawke who was frowning slightly. “What's wrong Hawke?”

“Oh just wondering if you might be concerned about the Grey Wardens holding the Divine in that vision. Their actions led to her death.”

Blackwall shrugged. “I assume Corypheus took their minds. You've seen it happen yourself.”

Alistair sighed tiredly. “Come on. You can add it to the things you want to yell at the Wardens about when we get out of here.”

“Oh, I intend to.” Hawke growled.

Lyna tipped his head to the side. “I wonder if she was a spirit. No demon would have been so helpful without expecting something in return.”

“So she's not real?” Max said hopefully. “Then the Nightmare’s fake, too, right? Right?”

Hawke grinned. “A demon that steals people's fears? That's new. I've got a few fears that I wouldn't mind losing myself.”

“But after what it did to the Wardens, it will learn fear itself.” Lyna growled.

“I have an idea: let's not piss off the demon ruling this place. Instead, let's just get the hell out of here.” Max said. 

They moved on, still heading for the Rift near the center of the area. They soon came to a ledge looking out over an open swath of rocky land. As Max looked out, he heard a deep voice resonate in his head. He shivered. He had a suspicion that the voice belonged to the Nightmare. 

“Some foolish little boy comes to steal the fear I kindly lifted from his shoulders. You should have thanked me and left your fear where it lay, forgotten. You think that pain will make you stronger? What fool filled your mind with suck drivel? The only one who grows stronger from your fear is me. But you are a guest here in my home, so by all means, let me return what you have forgotten.”

Max shook himself of the voice and they moved on. They came across a few small spider looking creatures that they killed with little difficulty. 

“That's it, right? Not so bad. Your not so bad!” Max shouted at the dead creatures.

“Surely these are but the Nightmare’s minions.” Alistair said.

“I hate this place.” Max muttered as they went on their way.

As they walked, the demon spoke to all of them. 

“I suppose I should be afraid, facing the most powerful members of the Inquisition.” It laughed. 

“Out of our heads bitch-balls!” Max shouted at nothing.

“Nice comeback.” Lyna said. 

“Ahh yes. The Hero. You are anything but. You think that just because you have slain an Archdemon, you are a match for me? You will die here and leave your precious people behind to mourn for a woman who thought she was god and tried to defy the odds. But No! You’re just a knife-ear, worth nothing!”

“For someone so powerful, you sure do taunt a lot.” Lyna said with a sneer.

The Nightmare changed targets. “Did you think you mattered, Hawke? Did you think anything you ever did, mattered? You couldn't even save your city. How could you expect to strike down a god? Merrill is going to die, just like your family, and everyone you ever cared about.”

“Over my dead body.” Hawke growled, growing protective of his lover

“Did the Kings bastard think he could prove himself? It's far too late for that. Your whole life, you've left everything to more capable hands. The Archdemon, the throne of Ferelden… Who will you hide behind now?” The demon taunted Alistair who chuckled. 

“Is that all its got? I've heard worse from Morrigan.”

They soon came to face more of the spider creatures. Once again, they killed them. 

Blackwall studied a dead one. “Smaller fears I'd wager, scavenging whatever the Nightmare leaves behind.”

“And of course they look like spiders. A common fear.” Hawke said.

“So it's in my head? Knowing is not helping.” Max cursed.

They continued until they found some more Wraiths. They killed them and again, the Anchor reacted with the energy they left behind. 

Max gasped as another vision popped up. This time it showed the Fade. Vision Max was struggling to climb up a steep rocky slope with more of the spider demons climbing up after him. Justinia was already at the top, urging Vision Max to hurry. 

“This is the Breach back at Haven. That's how we- how I escaped.” Max said to the others as they watched.

“The demons!” Warned Justinia. 

Vision Max reached the top and ran towards the open Rift with Justinia behind him. “Keep running!” He shouted.

Suddenly Justinia cried out. A spider creature had grabbed her leg. Vision Max spun around and grabbed her hand before it could drag her away. She hesitated a second before telling him “Go.” And suddenly disappearing. The demons closed in on Vision Max but he leaped into the Rift and this back into the real world. 

The vision faded. Max rubbed his eyes and looked at the Divine who had appeared as they watched the vision. 

“It was you.” Max said sadly. “They thought it was Andraste sending me from the Fade but it was the Divine behind me. And then you...she died.”

The Divine lookalike nodded. “Yes.”

“So this can't be the Divine.” Alistair said, disappointed. He had been hoping it was her. 

“You don't say.” Hawke said.

“I'm sorry if I disappoint you.” The imposter said. Hawke frowned as her skin seemed to melt off. In her place was a bright figure. She floated above them. 

Max's eyebrows bunched together, trying to piece together what she was. “The Nightmare watched Corypheus and grew powerful off the fear. Were you like that for the Divine? A spirit watching her from the Fade, inspired by her faith?”

“If that is the story you wish to tell, it is not a bad one.” The spirit said.

Hawke snorted. “What we do know is that the mortal Divine perished at the Temple, thanks to the Grey Wardens.”

Alistair groaned. “What, again? It wasn't their fault!”

“We can discuss the depressing details when we get back to Adamant.” Lyna intervened. 

“Assuming that the Wardens and their demon army didn't destroy the Inquisition while we were gone.” Hawke said hotly.

“So what are you saying? Terrible actions are only justified when they are your terrible actions?” Lyna said, now angry. “You tore Kirkwall apart and started the Mage rebellions!”

Hawke stepped forward, inches away from Lyna. “To protect innocent mages, not madmen drunk on blood magic! But you'd ignore that, because you can't imagine a world without the Wardens...even if that's what we need!”

Lyna looked to be about to slap the bearded Champion and Alistair was clenching his fists in anger. 

“Sweet Maker can you three just shut up!” Max snapped. “We can argue about this after we've escaped from the giant fear demon!”

All three flinched. Lyna looked ashamed. “Inquisitor…”

The spirit rose and said, “The Nightmare has found us.”, as more of its little spider things jumped down from the ledges. 

Hawke groaned, annoyed. He took a small bottle with blue steam swirling inside it off his belt and tossed it at the group of spiders. The bottle exploded when it hit the ground, the blast freezing the spiders completely. 

Max whistled. “Remind me to never piss you off.”

They continued on, passing past rocky arches and steaming puddles of acid, fighting groups of minor demons along the way until they came to a tunnel like cave. The rift was just above them, past the tunnel and on top of a slope. The spirit was waiting for them and led them through. “You must get through the rift, Inquisitor. Get through and then slam it closed with all your strength. That will vanish the army of demons…and exile this cursed creature to the farthest reaches of the Fade.”

“Oh is that it? Doesn't sound..too...hard...fuck.” Max said as they turned a corner and a humongous spider with huge fangs and long towering legs came into view. It was guarding the way to the rift. At its feet was a humanoid spider demon thing that looked equally as terrifying.

“Holy fucking huge ass demon! No no no no, fucking no!” Max said, taking a step back. He was quivering with fear. He could barely handle small normal demons and now there was the mother of all giant monstrous demons eying him down with its beady soulless eyes. Venom dripped from its large mandibles. 

“I can't do this. I can't fight that thing! I- I can't!” Max said, terrified beyond reason. 

He felt hands grip his shoulders and flinched in fear. “Be calm, Max. This is what the demon wants you to do. It wants you to freak out. That's how it wins.” Alistair said, trying to help him. “It wants you to get scared. Don't. Be brave. Show it you aren't afraid. Be the fearless man that everyone loves. That I know you can be. That everyone in the Inquisition knows you are. Show this demon it will not control you anymore. You are braver and better. Fight it!” 

He clenched his fists around his daggers. He was ready. Ready to show this demon what he was made of. 

“Let's go kick it’s spidery ass.” Hawke said, smiling. 

Lyna nodded. “As a team. We can do this. For our loved ones.” 

“Sins. What they make you do to repay them,” Blackwall said as he charged into the open. The nightmare laughed and charged at him. Blackwall turned and attached a hook to the demon. He pulled the demon with all his might to a chasm.

“NO!” The demon yelled. “I WILL NOT DIE THIS WAY!”

“And I’m the king of Ferelden. But sadly that isn’t true,” Blackwall said as he smiled a sad smile.

“Inquisitor,” Blackwall turned. The nightmare struggled, completely weakened by the rune in his hook. “Tell Josie that I love her.” 

“You don’t need to do that! Come back! We’ll kill the demon! Without needing a death.”

“When I cast this rune, my life was bound to this demon. I die, this demon dies. They say that sin makes you want to die. To repent.”   
Blackwall turned around. “Maker hear me. If this is enough repention, send me to the City of Gold. Your palace. Else, cast me down. Either ways, I’ve done enough in this life.”

Blackwall jumped off, dragging the demon with him.

“Come on! Let's get the hell out of here!” Max ordered and they all ran to the rift. 

Unfortunately the Nightmare wasn't done. It stepped in front of their path, blocking the exit. Their only exit.

"Anybody got any good ideas?” Max said as they faced the rather enormous and terrifying Nightmare Demon.

“We need to clear a path! Otherwise that blasted thing will kill all of us before we even get halfway to the Rift.” Alistair said.

“Anyone else have an idea? Anyone? Please?” Max said.

“Go.” Hawke said suddenly. “I’ll cover you.”

“Thats suicide! I won’t allow it.” Lyna declared.

“Hawke, think about your family and Merrill. You can’t sacrifice yourself for us when they are waiting for you to come back to them.I’ll stay and distract the demon while the rest of you get out of this place.” Lyna said.

“Like hell you are! You have Alistair and everyone who owes their lives to you to think about. You only get one chance to do the ultimate sacrifice, Lyna and you’ve already done it. A Warden must help them rebuild! That’ll be your job. Corypheus is mine.” Hawke interrupted 

“I’ll do it! My job, not yours! You’ve sacrificed too much!” Max yelled with tears brimming at the corner of his eyes.

Hawke turned to Max, with yet another one of his mischievous grins. “Don’t worry. Varric’ll make sure I survive in legends.” He turned serious. “Take care of my family of misfits for me. And tell Merrill ...tell her I’m sorry.”

Max screamed no and ran after him as Hawke ran at the demon, daggers out and flying. He slashed one of the demons giant legs and leaped underneath it. 

Lyna and Alistair had to drag Max away as they ran past towards the open Rift. As they ran past, Max heard Hawke say, “Spiders. Always the Maker damned spiders!”

Lyna and Alistair jumped through the Rift. Max stopped turned back to Hawke who was still under the demons massive head. Hawke stabbed upward, his daggers getting lost in the creatures mouth. Hawke caught Max’s eyes and grinned as he waved. Then the demon brought his head down and Hawke disappeared from view. Max tore his eyes away from the horrible scene and dove through the Rift. 

He landed right in the middle of the battle ground. Inquisition soldiers were fighting a desperate battle with the endless supply of demons spewing out of the Rift. Max turned around to look at the Rift he just came out of, hoping beyond hope that Hawke would step out of it. But he didn’t. 

“Boss! Great your still alive! Now close that Rift before the demons kill all your men!” Bull ordered above the sounds of battle.

Max thrusted out his hand and the Rift disappeared, as did all the demons fighting his men. His soldiers cheered. 

All of Max’s companions ran over. Lyna and Alistair stood beside him. “Max!” both Cassandra and Grace cried out in relief as they saw that he was okay. Both ran up to him and hugged him fiercely, both eyeing the other, a little annoyed that they were both hugging him. 

Tears of joy formed in the corner of Grace’s eyes. *He is okay! Thank the Maker, my sweet little Maxie is okay.*

Ellana noticed something was wrong. “What is it?”

“Where’s Hawke? And Blackwall?” Merrill asked dreading the answer.

“Tell her,” Lyna said as Max hesitated.

Max told her everything, with Lyna and Alistair filling in a few bits.

Merrill fell to the ground. Tears flowed down her eyes like a waterfall. 

“You said you wouldn’t leave me.” Merrill said quietly. “You said we’d live happily ever after. Forever. With me in your embrace and kids comforting us. BUT YOU LEFT ME!” Merrill yelled as she punched the ground.   
“WHY DID YOU DO THIS VHENAN! YOU SAID WE'D LIVE TOGETHER! YOU SAID YOU ALWAYS CAME BACK!” Merrill yelled. Max tried to go and comfort her, and she buried into his embrace. “I know how it feels. When you lose your lover,” Max said as Merrill cried into his shoulders. Varric and Fenris looked solemnly and grieved for their lost friend. Their lost family. 

An Inquisition scout stepped forward as well as a Grey Warden. The scout addressed Max. “My lord Inquisitor, the Archdemon flew off after you fell through the Rift. The Grey Wardens, those not enslaved by the mages, helped fight the demons. Those left in the order are willing to defer to the Inquisitions judgement.”

The Grey Warden nodded. “We stand ready to make up for Clarel’s tragic mistake. But what do we do now? We have no one left of any significant rank.”

Both Lyna and Alistair moved over to Max as Merrill broke his embrace and wiped her eyes. She walked away from the scene.

“Wardens! The threat we face is too big to cast out potential allies. I’m not going to cast you out, I know what that feels like. So you are going to help us fight the good fight. Your still vulnerable to Corypheus’s influence and his mages but there's plenty of demons that need killing. Besides, if that dragon is indeed an Archdemon, we might have use of you yet.”

Lyna let go a pent up breath. “Thank you for giving us this chance. I’ll make sure the Wardens make it to Weisshaupt.”

Max frowned. “You’re leaving with them? What about Alistair?”

Lyna shook her head. “I never said that. I said I’ll make sure they get to Weisshaupt, not that I was going to join them. I still have a duty to perform here.”

Max cracked his neck and wiped off the tears forming in his eyes. “Let’s go back before anybody else dies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to anyone who thinks Blackwall's death was written crappily. I had an idea, and sometimes I can't write it well. Again, apologize!


	21. The Beauty of Music (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max consoles a grieving Merrill. Satinalia presents are given away.

_ “Ma Vhenan!” Merrill said as she entered Hawke’s bedroom and saw that he had a guitar. _

_ “I never knew you played the guitar,” she said as Hawke smiled and set it down.  _

_ “I don’t go parading around with it, maybe that’s why,” Hawke said as he kissed Merrill. _

_ “Can you play a song?” Merrill asked as Hawke nodded and picked up his lute. He started playing notes that seemed to bounce up and down in the air, giving the tone a nice and cheerful. Then he descended into what seemed like sorrow and remorse. The tone shifted from cheerful to remorseful and missing. Merrill had never heard more beautiful. She could hear Hawke pour his regret, sorrow, anger, and all the other negative emotions in this song. She could also hear the bouncy notes of his happiness, his friends, and most importantly, Merrill. They were the ones who cheered them up. Hawke loved Merrill with all his heart, and she loved him with hers. _

_ “That was beautiful,” Merrill said. _

_ “Thank you.” Hawke said as he smiled at Merrill. “That’s actually a song my father had taught me to play. He said it’s been taught in the family for generations. Can you believe that? A song acting like an heirloom?” Hawke said as he told Merrill the tiny details about his family heirloom.  _

_ “The Dalish place a lot of importance on music,” Merrill said as Hawke leaned in curiously. He always loved it when Merrill told him something about the Dalish. He was always interested to know about his love’s heritage, and quite frankly, they’re badass in his opinion. _

_ “The Dalish say that each person has a song attached to their soul. That when this song is played by another, they can talk to the soul of the owner, connecting their souls together.” Merril said as Hawke nodded. “The two people can kind of communicate with each other. Using their soul’s music.” _

_ “Does that mean the heirloom song is my soul’s music?” Hawke asked as Merrill nodded. _

After that, Hawke had taught her how to play his song on the lute. That was what she was playing, with Hawke’s lute in her room. She either slept, or read the tale of the champion. She never left her room, and never saw the light. She tried to contact his soul again and again. The first time, after she had gone to Skyhold, she managed to see an apparition of him. The second and third times bore no fruit.

*Get over him Merrill* she said to herself. *He’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it.*

Knock Knock Knock. 

“Come in,” Merrill said as she saw Max walk into her room.

“How do you feel now?” he asked as Merrill shook her head and started crying. Max ran to her and embraced her in a hug meant to comfort and to reassure.

“How do you deal with it?” Merrill asked between tears. “How do you deal with the fact that your soulmate’s gone?”

“You just remember the good times you had with them.” Max said. “Reserve a special place in your heart for them, and care for them forever. But move on.”

“How? I love him so much. His humor. His kindness. His lute playing. His beard. Everything.”

“Write songs. Pour your heart out into your music. Use those songs as a vault, safeguarding your lover’s memory from time. But, as you go, you have to change the dedication of those songs. Change them to songs you play because you want to, not to safeguard his memory. It’s what I did with Caitwyn, and it seemed to have worked.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be crying like this in front of you. You lost so much more, yet you are fine.” Merrill said as Max shrugged it off.

“I had ten years to do it. Even then, there is still grief in my heart.”

“Would you mind if I play a song?” Max asked as he motioned towards the lute. Merrill shook her head.

Max picked it up and got used to it. It was a beautiful instrument, crafted with the finest attention to detail. Max played a few warm-up notes and strummed loudly. Then he played his favorite piece, “Evening Dance” by this man named York Anders. Merrill listened to him as he closed his eyes and let his fingers move on its own. Merrill instantly remembered a ball that Hawke had taken her to. It was after Anders blew up the Chantry. He posed as one of the Amell family, and since nobody had a clue it was Hawke, he was not discovered. Everyone was shocked when Hawke started dancing with Merrill and openly showing love to her. He had kissed her deeply, in the middle, and everybody had gasped. 

*Now he won’t be there to do that anymore.* Merrill thought. *He won’t be there for any of his friends and family.*

After Max finished, Merrill hugged Max once more. “Thank you for playing that. It really helped.” Max nodded and left, leaving Merrill to her own thoughts. 

\------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------------                                                                                                   **2 weeks later**

It was three days until Satinalia. The landscape of Skyhold went from orange to white. The children were out playing in the snow. The adults were shopping for presents for their kids. And Max was working on his Griffons.

Guilt had overtook him. Guilt for leaving Hawke and Blackwall there. After he had left Merrill, Josephine had walked in and cried with Merrill for hours. And hours. Max understood how that felt. To take his mind off of it, he was working on the Griffons Blackwall had started to make. He was staying up day and night, locking his door, and hammering away. He asked for all the material to be delivered to his quarters, and stored all of them near his barrels. The wood he didn’t use was gone to the fire pit. The wood he did use was turned into beautiful Griffons. They were tiny, meant for little children. 

He had worked on them for two weeks straight. He afforded a half hour nap each day, then got right back up. People banged on his door, demanded that he got out. He completely disregarded them. Instead, all the people could hear was clank, clank, clank.

As he finished the last one, Max took a breath. His room was littered with scrap wood, tools and the griffons. *The children will be pleased,* Max thought as he put the scrap wood into the fireplace. He moved the griffons into his barrell room, and he lied down on his bed. *Wonder what the others are doing* he thought as he closed his eyes and let the bliss of sleep welcome him into its arms.

\------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

“Max!”

“Max!”

“MAX!”

Max suddenly jolted up and looked around. He was in his bed, with Grace standing next to him looking very mad.

“What day is it?” Max asked as Grace started yelling.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING STAYING UP FOR 2 WEEKS STRAIGHT? AND THEN SLEEPING FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT? DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HOW WORRIED EVERYBODY WOULD BE FOR YOU? NO! YOU JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN! STAY UP AND DRINK FOR 2 WEEKS AND SLEEP FOR 3 DAYS STRAIGHT!”

“SHUT UP!” Max yelled, and Grace stopped.

“Did you really think I was drinking?” Max asked as Grace nodded.

“Come here,” he motioned Grace towards the barrel room and showed her the grffons he worked on.

“This is what I was doing. Working on presents so that the kids have something to play with.”

Grace hugged Max tightly and cried into his shoulders. She apologized to him, which Max shrugged off. 

“The feast is almost ready. You should join us.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------                                        

**Later that evening**

Max was walking from the tavern to his quarters. The path was snowy, with kids throwing snowballs at each other and making snow angels. Suddenly, Max felt a sharp sting on his back. He turned around and saw a kid with a scared look on his face and the others making ooooh faces. 

“Who was that?” Max asked as the kid started crying.

“Hey what’s the matter?” Max asked as he ran up to the kid and kneeled. 

“I didn’t mean to hit you, Ser. Please forgive me,” the kid said as Max smiled.

“It’s alright.”

“Do you know where Ser Blackwall is?” One kid asked as Max frowned. Max shook his head and asked why.

“It’s just that he promised to give us gifts for Satinalia, and we haven’t seen him.” 

Max smiled. Earlier before, Max had asked his servants to bring all the griffons down to the barn where Blackwall was. Thinking about that, he led the kids to the barn, where their faces lit up when they saw the griffons and swords and shields. 

Ellana was walking to find Max when she heard squeals from the barn. Walking there, she saw Max hoist one of the kids onto his shoulder and run around with a sword and shield.

As he put the kid down, he saw her. “Fancy seeing you here,” Max said as he wiped his hands. 

“Isn’t it a bit cold for playing outside?” Ellana asked. 

“I’m not playing. They are,” max replied as the kids slapped him with a sword and he pretended to die. 

“Alright,” Max said as everybody looked at him. “It’s getting real dark out, and your parents are probably worried for you. So you can take these home, play with them, do whatever. But they’re yours!” The kids cheered. 

“Come,” Max said to Ellana as they walked out and the sun set. “It is getting cold out.”


	22. The Mending of Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Optional:
> 
> Listen to Down to The Waterline by Dire Staits when reading the first part. (This is what I was listening to when I wrote this.)
> 
> The tune Hawke whistled is Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer.

“Where are we going?” Ellana asked as she followed Max through the snowy roads. His black hair still remained upright, even with all the snow. His coat waved around, and his face was decorated with a smile. Every breath he exhaled released a puff of air into the world. His ears were red to the cold. Ellana suddenly felt cold and rubbed rubbed hands together. 

Finally, they approached a grove overlooking the mountains. There was a full moon, with all the stars out. For miles and miles, they could see the sky. Max sat down, and motioned for Ellana to sit down too. 

“Today’s the one day in a million years. For anyone to see the moon and the stars to be like this,” Max said as he pointed. “Or it could be Solas. Probably the former, but you never know.”

“The point is, I wanted to show you something that’s extremely rare. Just like you.” Max said as Ellana was about to talk.

“Don’t be afraid, I won’t ask you out again. I get the point the first time. I meant as a friend and a person overall,” Max said as Ellana shook her head.

“That’s not what I was going to say. What I was going to say was that I have fallen for someone. A certain shem.”

Max’s eyebrows raised. “And I thought you said that elves were too proud to be in relationships with humans.”

“This is a special shem. He’s very handsome. Very noble. Very kind. He’s the ideal lover.” Ellana said as Max motioned for her to go on. 

“But this shem, I don’t think he likes me. He used to. He asked me a while back, and I said no.” Ellana said as Max, bless his naive heart, didn’t catch on. 

“But I changed my mind. He is not like the others. He cares for others, regardless of race or sex. And that is what I love about him. Want to guess who it is?” Ellana asked as Max shrugged.

“It is you.”

“The one thing I kn- wait what?” Max asked as he was blown away by the answer. 

“I love you. Ma vhenan,” Ellana said as she leaned in to kiss Max. 

He was surprised  To say the least. If you were to accurately describe it, Max was absolutely caught off guard. Her lips tasted like caramel, Max thought. As Ellana broke the kiss, Max saw her face. Her blush from the cold only seemed to make her face even more beautiful. Her Vallaslin seemed to glow against the faint light of the moon. Her green eyes looked at him with love. Her lips smiled as she bent in for another kiss. 

This one was more exploring. They held on longer, surrounded by their throes of passion and under the faint moon and stars. As they broke the kiss, Max cupped Ellana’s face. 

“I love you, Ellana Lavellan.”

“I love you too Max. But I think we have to go, before someone spots us.”

\--------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------                                   

**Somewhere in the Fade**

Hawke staggered to the ground, the rocks…or whatever the Fade was made of…scratching at his knees. His blades fell from his hand, it covered in dark blood and insides from the beast he had just slain. The choice was obvious to him when the Inquisitor turned to him and Lyna. Not only should it have been a Grey Warden fix the mess that they had started, but… she also had something to go home to. She had friends and family. Hawke’s fate was to die. And the beast made sure that he would, slashing him with it’s large nails, cutting deep into his flesh.

He collapsed. Falling face first into the grime, his skin tingling from pain, the loss of blood, his aching bones threatening to snap. He managed to push himself onto his back, his stained hands covering his wounds, breathing becoming hard, chest tightening. His eyes searched through the green smoke that swirled everywhere, engulfing him.

Hawke started whistling a tune from a song that Merrill had created. It was slow, and perfect for slow dancing. His lungs fought against his whistling, but Hawke pushed on. The tune carried his dying soul away to warm memories. To when he first her. Their first night together. Their journey throughout Thedas. Hawke remembered the small memories too. How they would help the Alienage. Her stories about the Dalish. Her warm embrace. 

*This is it.* Hawke thought.

But in the distance a shadowed figured moved towards him. His hand tried to reach for his dagger, but the sharp pain in his side made him clutch his arm back to his body, a cry escaping his lips as the searing wound spread tingles throughout him. He squinted his eyes, half from the pain and half to try to figure out who was walking closer. Soon he was able to make out the distinct curve of hips, her pale skin cutting through the darkness as its own source of light.

“Merrill?” Hawke cried out. *No,* he thought. *Did she die too?*

“Yes Hawke, it’s me.” Merrill said as she knelt down and her knees lapped through the water. She cupped his bearded face, covered with grime and blood. She kissed him, with Hawke eagerly receiving it.

As Merrill broke the kiss, Hawke cried. His insides cried out in pain. His wounds threatened to burst open into Merrill’s hands as he cried. “I shouldn’t have left you,” He cried, tears freely falling down. “I should’ve been selfish, for once.”

Merril smiled. “It’s alright, Ma Vhenan. You helped, a lot. You have people to look forward to,” she said as she hugged him.

*Ah yes,* Hawke thought. *Father, Mother, Carver, all those people who died in the fighting. I’ll see Bethany’s soul, slowly forming. Hopefully in the Maker’s light.*

“I’m sorry, Ma Vhenan,” Hawke said as he closed his eyes, and the spirit of healing, Merrill to him, went inside him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, on that note,
> 
> Next few chapters will focus on Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. As always, thanks for reading, and make sure to drop a comment on feedback. It is the only way I can improve my writing!


	23. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting twist before the Ball. Might work out, might not.

“We have a problem Inquisitor. The Empress refused to invite us for some reason, and it is imperative for us to go.” Josephine said as Max frowned. 

Leliana nodded. “There has been word of an assassination attempt on the ball night. All the more reason to attend the event ourselves”

“What do we do? If there is truly an assassination attempt, Orlais collapsing could spell the end of Thedas. Yet we cannot go,” Cullen said as Max hit a lightbulb. Or in this case, a candle.

“I have an idea. What if we go there in disguises. A party of four or five can easily sneak into the palace. Did the empress extend invitations to the Wardens?” Max asked as Leliana nodded.

“Yes. Any Warden involved in the siege of Adamant was invited. But why do you ask?”

“That means Lyna and Alistair can go. I’ll sneak in as a musician, since I play the guitar. Oghren can go in as a merchant, since he’s a dwarf. Grace could masquerade as a noble, and we’d need an elf to be a servant. That is, if all the participants agree to this.”

Josephine nodded. “This could work. I’ll start figuring out the details, pulling the strings, those kind of things.”

Max smiled. “Perfect,” he said as he turned to Cullen. “How are things at Adamant?” he asked with a grim look in his eyes.

Cullen gulped. The three advisors knew Max blamed himself for Blackwall’s and Hawke’s death. Even Josephine had forgiven him after she heard the situation. “The Wardens are slowly rebuilding, with the Inquisition’s army. It’s safe to say that the troops will come back home within a week.”

“Splendid. Josephine, if it’s not too much to ask, prepare a feast for them. I want to tell them how much I appreciate them risking their lives on this mission, and commemorate this achievement.”

Josephine nodded as Max ended the council meeting and walked out. Thinking about the details of the infiltration, Max accidentally bumped into Lyna.“Sorry about that,” Max said as he started to walk off and felt her hand on his shoulder. 

“So what were you doing with Ellana in the grove?” Lyna asked as Max blushed. He still couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she had reciprocate his feelings. Their kiss under the starry night was truly magical, and his heart fluttered every time he thought about it. 

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Max said with a sly grin as Lyna frowned.

“Come on. You have to give me the details!” Lyna said as Max shook his head. 

“A man never kisses and tells,” he said as he walked away leaving Lyna very confused. When he walked outside to check on everybody, he bumped into Merrill. *Man, I’m a klutz today,* Max thought as Merrill cleared her throat.

“There you are. I was going to tell you that, that uh-” Merrill froze as Max beckoned for her to continue.

“I thank you for your hospitality, but I was going to say that I’m going back to Kirkwall. There is nothing for me back here, and I can achieve more things in Kirkwall,” Merrill said as Max nodded. “At least let me give you the money for the ship,” he said as Merrill smiled and shook her head. 

“Varric said he’d pay for my trip, and he’d also escort me there.” Merrill said.

“Well, we enjoyed having you here, and I want to say that I’m sorry for your loss,” Max said as Merrill hugged him. 

“No problem,  _ lethallin _ ,” she said as she walked away to where Varric was. 

He later checked on everybody. He talked to Cassandra about finding the Seekers. Apparently, they were in Caer Bronach, and Lord Seeker Lucius was there too. He had also talked to Solas about Corypheus, asking him many questions about Blight magic, Corypheus, and the Blight in general. He had gone to Sera and talked to her about her mission with the Red Jennies. He had also taken the time to check on the children who he had given the toys to. He was playing good guy bad guy with them when Grace walked up to him.

“Why do you always play with the children?” Grace asked. “You have other, more important things to do.”

Max smiled at Grace. “You of all people should know that the way a child gets treated is what makes or breaks them when they become adults.” Max fell over, pretending to be dead. “We had our mother to teach us how to be kind and just. If we had depended on our father, all we would’ve gotten was hatred. Nothing more, nothing less,” Grace nodded in agreement. 

“Josephine wants to see you, me, Oghren, and Ellana,” she said as Max got up and walked with Grace.

\-------------------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------

“Good to see you,” Max told Ellana as he walked into the small room with Josephine inside. Oghren, Grace and Ellana were all waiting for him, and Max joined them as Josephine started to talk.

“As you know, the Inquisitor’s plan is to infiltrate the ball by disguise.”

“I volunteered to be a minstrel,” Max picked up. “Since i play the guitar quite well.”

“Grace, you’re going to be masquerading as the noble.” Josephine said as Grace frowned. “What noble?”

“If you get caught, your cover is that you’re one of Vivienne’s advisors. She’ll be accompanying you, finding information by herself.” Josephine said as Grace nodded.

“And Ellana, you’ll be an elven servant, trying to infiltrate the servants and figure out who’s the assassin.”

“Wow, ain’t I the person for the job,” Ellana muttered as Max struggled not to laugh in front of Josephine.

“Oghren, you’ll be a merchant, since the only other dwarves are Varric and Harding, and both are busy.”

“Here’s the problem with that miss.” Oghren said. “I don’t know nug shit about being a merchant.”

“It’s not that hard. You’ll figure it out. Now, everybody has their outfits in their respective rooms. Go prepare for your roles, and in a week, we’ll be heading out.” Josephine said as she dismissed the group.

\---------------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

**Lyna**

“Look, we’ve got invitations to a ball in Halamshiral,” Lyna said as she showed Alistair the paper. 

“Do we have to go? You and I both know I’ll put my foot in my mouth and somehow get the Empress of Orlais to declare war on the Wardens,” Alistair said as Lyna chuckled.

“We don’t have to be worried then. Wardens can easily destroy the shit out of the Orlesians,” Lyna replied.

“So do we have to get dressed or something? Cause I really like this armor. Nice and fluffy, compared to the stuffy clothes.”

“Right. Let’s go and ask Josephine what we’re supposed to do. With my dalishness and you being raised by mabari, our manners aren’t the best. And the Inquisition apparently needs Orlais’s support.”

“Hey,” Alistair complained as they both walked to Josephine’s office.

“There you two are,” Josephine said as she stood up from her desk. 

“I’ve got your outfits sent to your room. We’ll be starting in a week, so feel free to try it on, tell me how it feels. I’ll make any adjustments, and yeah, that’s it.” Josephine finished as Alistair nodded and took Lyna back to their room.

“Ooh, red clothes,” Lyna said as she picked the red dress and the blue pants up. 

“What is your obsession with red? I swear, it’s just you giving into bloodlust. ‘Oooh red pants. Yes. Red shirt yes. Red food, hell yes. Red cheese. Give me ten of those.’” Alistair said as Lyna laughed.

“The day that happens is the day I turn into a darkspawn. Which might actu…” 

“And let’s not finish that sentence,” Alistair replied as they sat on their bed. Lyna laid down. 

“I’m taking a nap.”

“Well, allow me to join you then, my lady,” Alistair said as He lied down and heard Lyna snoring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting a new series where I write one-shots based on prompts. If you have any, feel free to comment them down below, and I will try my best to write them.


	24. Amidst a den of Wolves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts

**A week later**

“Invitation?” The Orlesian guard asked Max as he handed the forged bill of contract to him. The guard looked at the document that stated the Empress hired him to play at the ball celebrating the New Year. The guard nodded, letting Max in and keeping  guard. 

Max walked into what was Halamshiral with a little bounce in his step and butterflies in his stomach. He hoped that their little ruse would fool the empress and somehow yield them information. In the distance, he saw Vivienne and Grace talk to someone as Grace turned around and nodded at him. Max turned around to see Oghren conversing with a bunch of other dwarves. He glanced at Max, letting him know that he saw him. Max hoped that Ellana made it safely without any trouble. 

“So, where are you from?” Max turned around to see another bard stand in front of him. She looked a lot like Leliana, with the same shade of red populating her hair, and the same inquisitive blue eyes facing him.

“I’m from Antiva. The Empress hired me to perform at the ball,” Max said in a slight but believable Antivan accent. The other bard raised her eyebrows and asked, “No accent though?”

Max laughed. “Not everybody from Antiva has an accent. You’d do well to learn that,” he replied as he entered the Winter Palace.

\-----------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------------

**Ellana**

“Bring me some wine, knife-ear!” The Marquise shouted into the air as Ellana quickly rushed to service the lady. She hated bowing down like this, servicing a  _ shemlen _ like this. But this was required, if they were to get information. Everybody knew it was Ellana and Grace who would get the most information. Ellana, with her superior hearing and her access to all the nobles in the palace, and Grace, with her training in diplomacy and her position as Vivienne’s advisor. 

“Here you go,” Ellana said as she gave the cup of wine to the noble. The Marquise turned around with fire in her eyes, and slapped Ellana, causing others to look at them.                                                              “Never address me, you knife ear,” she said. “You are beneath me, in every way. Remember that.”

“Are you insane?” Another elf said as she pulled Ellana away to a corner. “That could’ve cost you your life!”

“What do you want me to do?” Ellana asked the other elf. “I said ‘here you go’. Is that not what one is to do?”

“I see you’re new to this job.” the elf said as she laughed. “My name is Miriam. What’s yours?”

“Lenya,” Ellana said, making sure she used another name instead of her real one. Lenya had been her best friend in clan Lavellan, and her hunting partner, before all of this happened.

“Oh, I see you’re one of our Dalish cousins. How did you get here?”

“Exile from my clan. Needed a job. One of my friends recommended me here.”

“Fair. Now follow me to not die,” Miriam said as she led Ellana to the servant’s quarters. 

“Now, don’t talk to any of the nobles. And get used to being cursed at. It’s all part of the job.” 

\----------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------------

**Max**

“Are you playing here too?” Max asked the bard. She nodded and pointed at a Marquise slapping an elf.

*Shit, that’s Ellana!* Max thought as he watched. The Marquise yelled at Ellana as another elf pulled her away.

“Sad, no? How elves get treated?” the bard asked him as he nodded. “The Empress tried to help the elves get a better life, but the court turned it down immediately.”

“I never caught your name,” Max said as he turned around and followed the bard.

“Mary,” she said. “What about yours?”

“Thomas.” Max said. That was a common Antivan name.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Thomas.” Mary said as she picked up two drinks and handed one to Max.

“You’re a bard here?” Max asked. 

Mary shook her head. “I’m performing. Same as you. In fact, I think we’re playing a duet right after the Empress’s speech.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “ _ Cassandra, Mi Amora _ ? You’re playing that with me?”

“AND NOW!” The Empress’s Chamberlain yelled on the dance floor. “TO INTRODUCE OUR MOST ESTEEMED GUESTS OF TONIGHT!”

“WARDEN COMMANDER LYNA MAHARIEL! ARLESSA OF AMARANTHINE, VANQUISHER OF THE BLIGHT, SLAYER OF THE ARCHDEMON, AND THE HERO OF FERELDEN!”

Max could see a figure that was Lyna walk onto the ball floor accompanied by Duke Gaspard. 

“AND ALISTAIR THEREIN! WARDEN-CONSTABLE OF FERELDEN AND COMPANION OF THE HERO OF FERELDEN!”

“It’s interesting that the chamberlain didn’t announce the fact that the Warden-Constable’s the bastard of Maric,” Mary said as Max chuckled.

“It wouldn’t be protocol to address a hero of the Blight as a bastard. Even if he was a Fereldan surrounded by Orlesians.” he replied as Mary surprisingly bent over laughing.

“Let’s go and look at something else,” Mary said as he held Max’s hand and dragged him away.

\---------------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

**Lyna**

“Hero! I pleasantly welcome you to this ball to celebrate a new year. So, what do you think about Halamshiral?”

“Any amount of words will never suffice to describe the beauty of this palace.” Lyna replied as she added under her breath, “Beauty the elves had built and you  _ shemlen _ stole.” Fortunately, nobody except for Alistair heard her and he quietly snickered.

“Your modesty gives a lot of credit to the Wardens, credit that is in abundance. Please, enjoy yourself! The ball will start soon. Now, cousin, if we may,” Celene replied as Gaspard climbed up the stairs and joined her.

Lyna walked over to Grace who was talking to another noble. 

“Hero, it’s very nice to meet you!” Grace said as she shook Lyna’s hand.

“What have you got so far?” Lyna whispered. 

“Celene has an Occult advisor, and it might be someone you know. Just know that she’s powerful and can murder you with a snap of her fingers.”

“Ellie!” Vivienne yelled at Grace. “Come, we have to go,”

“Yes Madame de Fer.” Grace replied as she walked away.

Lyna turned around to see Alistair talking to what was assumed a princess of some sort. More like the princess idolizing him and him trying to get away from the situation.

Lyna walked closer as she could hear the lust dripping from the princess’s voice. 

“How about you and I take it into the back rooms huh? You’ll get to explore the castle’s rear end and mine,” she said as Lyna tried not to die of laughter.

“Did you hear that?” Alistair yelled. “I think someone’s calling me. Gotta go bye!” he yelled again as he gently pushed the princess aside and slowly but quickly walked over to Lyna.

“Did you see her? She literally asked me to….”

“Yes I heard her. And it was hilarious. Seeing you blush like that has made me laugh in a way I haven’t done so in a long time.”

“You’re an evil woman.”

“Anyways, I have some news. Turns out Celene has a magical advisor, and it’s someone we know.”

“Is it Wynne? Though, last I heard from her, she said she would stay in Ferelden to help the Circle.”

“I don’t know. I guess we’re going to find out though,” Lyna said as she and Alistair and walked on to continue their search.

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

**Max**

Grace bumped into Max, causing him to slightly trip. He looked over to her as he saw a paper fall. He picked it up to read, “Did you find anything yet?”

“Excuse me miss!” Max yelled out to call Grace’s attention. “You dropped this paper,” he said as he walked over to Grace. “I didn’t find anything, but I’ll keep looking.”

Max walked over back to Mary who asked him inquisitively, “Who was that?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I have no clue. She dropped a paper though, and I gave it back. So when are we playing?”

“In an hour or so. We have the entire palace to ourselves. Come, I want to tell you something.” Mary said as she dragged Max over to the outside of the palace. 

“As you might know, Celene has an occult advisor in her court that is surprisingly powerful. Celene is a fanatic relying on too much magic.” Mary said as she dragged him to a corner.    
“Those are treasonable words,” Max replied quietly as Mary laughed. “It’s the truth,” she said back to him.

“So what are we doing?” Max asked as Mary pointed to the top of the vines and ladders.

“The Grand Library is up there. Maybe we can find evidence of this advisor. That’ll be good for both of our employers. Don’t you think?” she asked. 

“Well, I’m a freelance musician, but I won’t leave the company of such a beautiful woman.” Max said with a sly smile as he walked over to the ladders and started climbing them. Luckily, no one noticed, and he and Mary made it to the top in no time.

\---------------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

**Ellana**

“Morris, someone needs a drink over in the Hall of Heroes,” Miriam yelled as the elf scampered away. Another one came up to Miriam and whispered something in her ear as Miriam nodded and motioned to Ellana.

“I can trust you, right? Good, now come on,” Miriam said quickly said as Ellana nodded and followed her to the servant’s quarters.

“There’s been some fishy stuff going on in here. The Knife has told us to investigate what’s going on,” Miriam said as they entered the quarters and made their way out into the garden. 

“Who’s the knife? And what are we doing here?” Ellana asked as they saw a dead body on the floor. As Ellana and Miriam moved closer, they saw that the man was part of the Council of Heralds, the people that approved of an Emperor’s rise to power. 

“Shit. She’s going to be pissed.” Miriam said as she kept walking on with Ellana right on her tail.

“Can you tell me what the fuck is going on?!” Ellana yelled out as Miriam turned around and glared at her.

“Fine. Celene and Gaspard are having peace talks to end their civil war. Our employer, Ambassador Briala, wants to spy on them and influence the talks so that they don’t shut the elves down. When Briala heard that there were talks of an assassination attempt, she made sure all the servants were ready to act against any moves Gaspard makes. And seems like Gaspard has made his move.”

Ellana saw a greatsword sheathed next to a few men sitting and eating somewhere. She signalled Miriam to stay quiet and inched closer to the group of Venatori. Ellana slowly raised a dagger hidden in her hand, and stabbed a Venatori through the chair. The other one got up quickly and scrambled for his weapon, but reached it too late as Ellana threw the dagger and finding its mark in his head. She picked the greatsword up and stabbed the final Venatori in the stomach, instantly killing him. She then went back to Miriam and asked, “Where to next?” Miriam pointed the way and led Ellana to new information and potentially new leads.

\------------------------------------------------------------------x-------------------------------------------------  

**Lyna**

“Ah, t’is not you who I expected to arrive here,” she said as Lyna and Alistair turned around to see. Coming down the stairs, surprisingly clad in a puffy dress, was Morrigan, the supposed occult advisor for Celene. The last place Alistair would’ve expected for her to stay. With Kieran. His son. *Oh this is going to get awkward,*

“Morrigan!” Lyna exclaimed as two good old friends reunited. Morrigan hurried over as much was possible in her frilly dress and gave Lyna a warm hug. With a smile, she pulled back and put her hands on Lyna’s shoulders. 

“How’s life? Is the cure coming along well? Tell me you found it,” Morrigan started saying as Lyna smiled. “Life’s good. No good on the cure though. How’s Kieran?” she asked back as Morrigan nodded.

“Kieran’s good. I make sure he studies all his studies, and he avoids the court as much as possible. That in itself is a challenge.” she said as Lyna guffawed. Kids, she thought as she quickly reminisced back to the days when she and the other Dalish kids had to sit and listen to the  _ hahren _ drone on about elven history.

“Can Alistair meet Kieran? He really wanted to see him and meet him. He’s actually standing over there, trying to not shit his pants with nervousness.” Lyna said as she pointed over to Alistair casually leaning on a rail and waving at Lyna and Morrigan.

“First let me talk to him, then I’ll bring Kieran down.” Morrigan said. “Now go, the music’s about to start, and this is the best time to gain information.”

\----------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

**Max**

“What’s that?” Mary whispered as she and Max ducked under a table. They heard two people walk in and grab reports while talking. 

“The peace talks are crumbling, Celene and Gaspard can’t agree to do shit, and Orlais is still in a civil war. What a time to be alive!” One person said.

“It’s all that knife eared bitch Briala’s fault. If she hadn’t pressured Celene to let the elves get rights, she would’ve focused taking back our rightful colonies.” the other said back.

“Did you hear? Gaspard’s men are near the Royal Quarters. Apparently they are planning to assassinate Celene.”

“Good. About time that someone who really cares about Orlais becomes emperor.” they talked as they exited the library.

“Shit. The Empress will get murdered. We have to tell someone this.”   
“Or we can take care of it ourselves. But now we have to go. The bell’s ringing,” Mary whispered as Max and Mary quickly scampered back to the ballroom, without alerting anybody of their previous activities. They quickly ran towards the musician’s chairs, sitting down next to each other and picking their guitars up. They immediately launched off into a jaunty tune, depending on their experience to play in time with each other. They played an intro together, then Max played his part, flying through his notes as the guests in the floor below danced to it. After a little bit, he handed it off to Mary, who played as well as him. Then they ended the piece off with playing together, observing the dance down below. Once they ended the music, everybody stood up to clap for the two guitarists who played and the people who danced below. Max and Mary smiled, bathing in the recognition they surprisingly received. 

“And now it’s time to check the Royal Wing,” Mary said as Max nodded.

\---------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------

**Alistair**

“What did Florianne say?” Lyna asked as Alistair walked back to the Vestibule. He had just danced with the Duchess to a tune no doubt played by Max and whoever played with him. It was jaunty, and a good song to dance to. It was also loud enough to mask their conversation, which yielded some interesting information.

“She suggested exploring the Royal Wing, and said that the show’s plot will thicken and that the show will come to a close no matter.”

“Creepy. I bet you she’s the assassin.” Lyna remarked.

“I completely agree with you. She was nervous the entire time I was dancing with her. Whenever I hinted at anything related to the peace talks, she quickly deflected it. There is also no way she would know what was happening anywhere if she didn’t orchestrate it.”

“Well, I guess it’s time to go the Royal Wing.”

“Don’t you think we have to find Max and tell him this?” Alistair quickly asked as they walked towards the Hall of Heroes and spotted Max. Lyna quickly walked over and called out for Max.

“Who called me?” Max said as he turned around and saw Lyna. “Ah Hero! It’s so nice to finally meet you! What can I do for you?”

“I have a job offer for you,” Lyna said as she pulled Max away from Mary and let Alistair distract her with his terrible but funny jokes.

“Go to the Royal Wing.” she whispered in his ears. “There’s something there for us.”

“I know.” Max replied. “We heard people talking about how there were assassins waiting there.”

“Then it’s imperative that we head there as soon as possible,” Lyna replied. 

\---------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------------------

**Ellana**

Miriam and Ellana went into the Grand Apartments. A letter passed by a servant said that there is information there that had to be recovered.

“Do you have the key?” Miriam asked as Ellana nodded and opened the door to the Royal Wing. It was gigantic, with doors leading to the personal rooms of each meaningful person in the court. 

“Briala said that she heard Florianne’s men talk about a package in the gardens. That’s where we need to go.” Ellana said when Miriam held up a finger.

“There’ll be valuable information in each one of these rooms. Checking them will only help Briala’s cause. Follow me,” she ordered as she entered a room and flipped through a stack of papers. 

“Look, this is the Grand Duke’s room, and look at the things I’ve found. Bills of weapons for his troops, supplier reports and many more. If we search Florianne’s room and Celene’s room like this, we’ll strike gold and help Briala. Then the elves will have a lot more rights in Orlais.”

Ellana nodded in understanding, and started to walk to the other rooms when she heard a shriek. Quickly running over to the room that the sound originated from, she opened the door, and saw a harlequin standing above an elf, with a knife in his hand. 

“HEY!” Ellana yelled as the harlequin turned around. Ellana almost jumped back in surprise. He had makeup covering his face and his identity. His dress looked weird, with a green hood and makeup covering the rest of his body.

He sprinted over to stab her, but she quickly dodged him and stabbed the back of his neck, causing him to fall. 

“Thank you so much!” The elf exclaimed in relief. 

“What are you doing here? An elf in Celene’s quarters?” Miriam asked as she walked over to see what was going on. 

“Briala sent me here, to retrieve a package. I don’t know what it was, and I’m certainly not trusting her again,” the elf spat as Ellana breathed in deeply.

“Would you be willing to testify this against Briala?” she asked as the elf nodded. Then the elf ran away, leaving Ellana and Miriam alone.

“Are you serious? Briala’s the one trying to help the elves and you’ve just acquired information against her. Who’s side are you on?” Miriam asked angrily as Ellana turned to her.

“This’ll make sure Briala actually goes along with what we want instead of cementing her own power. A contingency plan, nothing more,” she assured as Miriam calmed down and went to explore more of the Wing. 

After that whole debacle, they encountered an Orlesian Chevalier tied to a bed screaming for help. Ellana tried her hardest to stop laughing, but one look at Miriam’s face was all that was needed to burst into tears. She literally fell over laughing, and Miriam had to clutch her chest to breathe. The Orlesian blushed till his face turned the shade of candy apples, and waited for them to stop laughing before begging them to release him. After they did, he told them about how Celene tricked him into funding her troops in the war. 

“Keep it quiet, and you’ll be fine. Raise this issue anywhere else, and you’ll be cut down,” Ellana said as the Chevalier nodded and ran off naked.

“Now, off to the Royal Gardens and whatever’s in store for us there.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------

**Max**

“Max, I’ll go back and collect some of those blackmail documents we saw earlier,” Mary said as Max frowned.

“Why? I could use the extra help, just in case…” Max started when Mary put her finger on his lips.

“Employer remember?” Mary said with a wicked smile. “And after my success, we can celebrate. In the back room. Just you and me,” she finished as she pecked Max’s cheeks and quickly.

Max shrugged his shoulders and burst out the garden doors with Lyna, Alistair, Ellana, and Miriam on his tail. They ran out to the fountain to see none other than Florianne standing on the terrace.

“Ah, Hero, how good it is to see you! And with companions! This will be the grand finale I hoped for. Enjoy!”

“Wait!” Max yelled. “Answer this question. Are you the assassin?”   
“Stupid bard!” Florianne said as she laughed. “I am the assassin. I am the one who framed Gaspard. Although that buffoon dug himself into a grave. I am the one who framed Briala. I am the one who will bring the Elder One success. Speaking of him, he left a surprise for you, Hero. A parting gift, if he may. Enjoy!” Florianne finished as a rift tore into the air around them, spawning all matters of demons.

Max, having the most experience in dealing with them, took leadership of the group. He directed Alistair and Ellana to stand near the rift and distract the demons. He ordered Lyna and Miriam, who knew how to wield daggers, to help Alistair and Ellana by sneaking around and backstabbing the demons. Meanwhile, Max would do the same, while also disrupting the rift.

This strategy worked beautifully, and the rift was soon closed, revealing a man on the floor, edging away from the group.

“Who are you?” Max asked the man quickly got up.

“I’m the mercenary captain Gaspard hired. Hail from Denerim myself. When he made me join, I didn’t think I was going to see fade rifts!”

“Gaspard hired you? For what?”

“He said for gaining something that belonged to him. Didn’t think it was the empire though.”

“Will you willing to testify against him?”

“Against that mask-wearing, square-dancing, son of a bitch? Fuck yes!” the captain cheered.    
“Find Madame de Fer and her assistant Grace, and say that Lyna sent you,” Lyna said as the captain nodded and walked back in.

“So what are we going to do?” Ellana asked.

“Well, Gaspard’s off the table. High Treason isn’t going to help him this time. We’ve got the captain as evidence.”

“We also found a de Chalons knife on a dead Council of Heralds member,” Miriam said as she handed it to Max.

“Thank you, miss,” Max asked as Miriam responded with her name.

“We also found a locket, while coming here,” Lyna added as she gave it to Max. 

“Oh! That’s the locket Briala gave Celene. Rumour was that they were jilted lovers, and that they’re now bitter enemies.”

“When I confronted Celene and Briala about this, they vehemently denied everything. That shows that they care for each other. Question is, how do we use that?”

“Don’t worry,” Max said as he smiled. “I’ve got a plan.”

\-----------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------------

“Please quiet. The empress will begin her speech soon,” the chamberlain boomed as the entire audience quieted. Lyna and Alistair saw Florianne and Gaspard on the opposite side, looking quite surprised.

“We got this,” Alistair muttered as Lyna nodded. As Gaspard, Briala, and Florianne gathered in front of Celene, Lyna slowly walked out to the ball floor. Ooohs and gasps of surprise rang as the Hero of Ferelden casually walked up to Florianne and smiled.

“We owe the court one more show your grace,” Lyna said as Florianne slowly backed up. 

“Hero, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Florianne replied as Alistair stepped out and smiled.

“Really? I thought you had your ‘grand finale’ set up and ready to go. I wanted to see it live, since it sounded cool,” he said as Florianne started to sweat.

“Oh Hero! Your jokes are very funny,” she nervously said as Alistair took full lead and stomped up to Florianne.

“High Treason is no joke, your grace. You told me to get out of the ballroom and investigate the royal wing so we could be distracted. And that knife? It was yours, not Gaspards,” Alistair said as Gaspard frowned at Florianne.

“And your finale. Rounding us all up and tearing a rift to kill us. Now we all know how well that worked out,” he scoffed as Florianne sputtered.

“Nobody believes this, right?” 

“Let’s leave that to judge,” Celene said calmly as Florianne was taken away by two of the guards.

“ immolabit holocaustum!” Florianne screamed.

\-----------------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------

Max was watching their victory. Alistair and Lyna outplayed Florianne in every statement. No wonder she was detained. 

Max suddenly saw movement in the rear balcony. It was a person, climbing the balcony and entering the palace. They quickly sprinted over to Celene, with a knife drawn out.

“NO!” he roared as he looked around for anything that can be used as a weapon. Grabbing his guitar, he jumped over the guard rail, and tumbled over to the floor with the potential assassin in front of him. 

Swinging his guitar, Max caught the assassin square in the head, resulting in them falling to the ground. 

Everyone turned over to look at him, and he bowed. 

“My name is Thomas. I was the guy who was playing the music for dancing. And now the guy who saved the Empress.”

“Thomas and I would like to talk to you somewhere. Preferably private.” Lyna said. 

 

They walked out to another balcony. Thomas threw out his guitar, which was missing its bottom half. 

“I was joking. My name is Maxwell Trevelyan. Or, if you prefer, the Inquisitor,” Max said as Celene, Briala, and Gaspard gasped. 

“Now that the threat is gone, the Inquisitor and I can sort this out, with your cooperation.” Lyna said as everybody nodded.

“You’re the spymaster. You’re the one who’s supposed to know this,” Gaspard accused Briala as she laughed.

“Yet you do not deny your involvement. Strange,” Briala said as Gaspard opened his mouth.

“I do deny this comp…”

“Shut up!” Max yelled as everybody quieted. 

“I agree. I want answers. The empire needs to be stable, especially with Tevinter plotting against us.” Celene said as she turned to Max and Lyna.

“Gaspard plotted to commit treason, your highness. We have the Council of Heralds ready to testify how Gaspard bullied them,” Lyna said.

“Ha. Is calling me a bully the best you have?” Gaspard scoffed as Max smiled.

“We also have your general’s orders to covertly move troops into the palace. For what, if I may ask?” he asked as Gaspard shrugged his shoulders.

“I expected betrayal. Just not from my sister…” he said quietly.   
“We also have your mercenary captain who’s willing to testify…” Lyna continued as Celene raised her hand.

“Enough. The Hero and Herald have provided me with enough information. Gaspard, for your crimes against the Empire, I officially sentence you to death.” she finished as two chevaliers came in and detained Gaspard.

“You should thank Briala for all of this. She was the one who worked with us to unravel this plot. Without her, untold things could’ve happened to you tonight,” Max interjected as Briala humbly nodded.

Celene motioned for them to come back inside, and stood.

“We thank you, Inquisitor and Hero. Without you, Orlais would’ve fallen to the Venatori. Now, excuse us, as we have to address the court.” Celene said as she and Briala bowed and headed to the court.

“Now that’s what I call a job well done,” Max said as Lyna nodded with a smile. Indeed, it was a job well done.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. My "unique" (I hope) way of looking at the quest resulted in me taking a long time to figure out everything. That's also the reason for the writing quality to be not that good (sorry about that). So, leave kudos, and comment any suggestions that you might have.
> 
> Anyways, I started a Prompts series. You can go to my profile and check it out there. I would really appreciate kudos and feedback. Also, if you want me to write about anything or any relationship, comment that.
> 
> Anyways, that's all dear readers. Enjoy,  
> FanFictionNerd456


	25. Their Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Different characters' nights. NSFW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time to update. A lot of personal matters were going on, and writer's block also hit hard. Hope you enjoy!

**On the Road**

“I’m going to need to get some new armor,” Max muttered as he analyzed the wounds gained the past few days. The travel from Halamshiral to Skyhold was hard, with many highwaymen blocking their way, and a high dragon. A fucking high dragon, which Max barely managed to fight before getting completely knocked out. It was Ellana and Vivienne that had rejuvenated him, Vivienne with her magic, and Ellana with her extensive knowledge of herbs. 

“Well, we are near Val Royeaux, so you can get all the armored goodies you want,” Oghren said.

 

“I need to restock on herbs, and there’s nothing here,” Ellana said. 

“There is Val Royeaux,” Grace replied.

\-----------------------------------------------------x---------------------------------------------------------

**Val Royeaux (Ellana)**

The others camped outside as Max and Ellana entered Val Royeaux. Ellana remember how back when they came here for the first time, the Orlesian lady had came up to them and accused them of stealing from her son. 

*Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again,* she thought as they went their separate ways. It was true that Ellana had to buy herbs, and the ones she wanted weren’t there in the forest. But she also wanted buy another item for a very specific human close to her heart.

After buying the herbs, Ellana walked around, trying to find a luthier who could build a guitar. Ellana knew how important music was to Max, and him smashing his guitar against the assassin destroyed it. So she wanted to buy him a new one, so that he can continue to play.

*Here we go,* Ellana thought as she found a luthier’s shop. Hopefully, the person can make a good guitar.

“Bonjour, madame. What can I do for you today,” the person behind the counter said as Ellana looked around. The shop was filled with guitars, wood, and other guitar accessories. 

“How much will it cost to build a custom guitar, sir?” Ellana asked as the person smiled and brought out a catalog.

“Tell me what wood you want, and I’ll show you the other options,” the luthier asked.

“That one looks nice,” Ellana said as she pointed at the guitar she wanted. It had a chocolate-brown body, with a dark-brown back, and a dark brown fretboard. Ellana didn’t know why she picked that over the others. Maybe because of its ‘rustic’ looks. Maybe because it was simple yet beautiful, just like Max. Or maybe because it was one of the cheapest on the book. Who knows?

“Perfect. And where would you like me to deliver it?”

When Ellana told him to deliver it at Skyhold, his eyebrows raised a little, but went back down. He nodded and bade Ellana a good day as she walked out.

\---------------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------

**Max**

Max had a plan in his mind. A plan that was followed and cliched in many novels. A romantic picnic. Or at least, his attempt at one.

His plan was pretty simple. Conversation with Ellana revealed that her favorite flowers were Andraste’s Grace. He was going to open up wine from his valuable “Bottles of Thedas” collection, as he liked to call it, since it was aged and had the best quality. He was also going to politely request the cook to let him use the kitchen to cook up some meals. *A handmade dish that maybe tastes good. What a perfect idea!*

“By the Maker! It’s the Inquisitor himself. Would you like to buy a bouquet, your worship?” the elven gardener said as Max smiled.

“Actually,” Max smiled conspiratorially as he leaned in. “It’s for a lady friend.”   
“Oh! Then simple wildflowers cannot do. For this, you must only have the finest red roses. And it’s on the house.”   
Max smiled again. “Thank you for that!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------

**Skyhold**

Ellana was ready. She had the guitar in her hands. She went over the smooth wood, the fleeting birds on the frets, and the luthier’s name signed on the headstock. 

*I got this. Don’t fuck it up* she thought as she got up from her bed in her room. As she did that, a servant walked in, holding a note.

“The Inquisitor specifically said for this to be delivered to you. As soon as possible,” the servant said as he exited, leaving Ellana to read the note.

“ _ Ma Vhenan (if I may call you that), _

_ I have a surprise for you that I want you to see. Meet me by the springs outside Skyhold at night, _

_ Max Trevelyan _ ”

*A surprise? What’s the surprise? When did he do this? And did he just call me  _ ma vhenan _ ?* Ellana thought as she continued her work until night, when she would go, with her guitar.

\-------------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------

**(Later that night)**

Ellana made her way to the springs outside of Skyhold. She didn’t know how they existed, but they did. Max was standing next to one of them, peering as always at the sky. 

“There you are!” Max exclaimed as he walked over carefully and wrapped Ellana in a lover’s embrace. All she could do was just melt into his built physique. He somehow radiated warmth, even though it was winter and they were in Skyhold. She searched for his heartbeat, that familiar  _ thump-thump-thump _ showing that this was all reality.

“What was your surprise?” Ellana asked as Max’s face lit up and he led her to a small cove. There laid a picnic cloth, with the most wonderful smelling candles she had ever seen. On the cloth, two plates with steaming hot steak. With the steak sat two glasses and a bottle of wine. 

“Max, I don’t… I mean… Wow,” Ellana remarked as Max raised his eyebrows.    
“That’s a yes, or a…?” Max asked as Ellana shook her head.

“It’s a yes, a certain yes, but I didn’t believe that you would go this far for me.” Ellana replied as Max frowned.

“Why not? I said I love you,  and I mean it.” 

“Sit down, we’ll talk,” Ellana said as she sat down with Max and poured wine. 

“It’s just that, we elves have been taught that humans are at best distant and at worst the devil. It’s easier to believe that humans will become friends rather than lovers. So when you said you loved me, I didn’t know how serious I should take you. I didn’t know whether your heart was fully into it, especially with Caitwyn and everything. I certainly didn’t expect you to do all of this.” Ellana said as Max looked at her with eyes that conveyed his feelings.

“Ellana, since the moment I saw, I don’t know how to describe this, I just fell for you. And especially spending time with you, makes my day a whole lot better. Talking to you, takes my mind away from all my inner demons. You just make me feel better. A lot better.” 

Ellana looked at him with a surprised face. He had never opened to her this much, or admitted the depth of feelings to her. 

Noticing her face, Max quickly changed the topic. “On that note, how’s the food?” 

Ellana was shoving the steak into her mouth when he asked. “Really good,” She said as she put the plate down and chewed. “Who made this? This is probably one of the best meals, scratch that, the best meal I’ve ever had. And the wine? Creators, that is wine to die for.”

Max cleared his throat and chuckled. “Actually, I was the one who cooked the food. I had to fall on my knees and plead the cook. After she tasted it though, she was all for it.” 

Ellana struggled not to laugh as Max looked confused. 

“It’s just that you going on your knees, and she tasting it…” Ellana struggled to say before dying of laughter, and Max shook his head.

“Leave it to you to twist the most innocent of stories into… whatever they are.”

Max replied with a straight face until he too started laughing with Ellana. They fell on the blanket, knocking the plates to the sides. Her legs were facing the trees, and Max’s the mountain. They were looking at the sky, marveling its blanket of stars, Thedas’s moon, and the cold mountain wind that Max enjoyed so much.

“What comes after this?” Ellana asked. “We fall in love, check, we profess it to each other, check, awkward moments, check, romantic dinner, check. What’s next?” 

“Well, next is spending the night together. Only if you want, of course.”

“I think I would like that,” Ellana whispered as they both got up and looked at each other. Max cupped Ellana’s cheek, and pulled her in for a soft kiss. They lingered there, enjoying each other, until Ellana pulled Max and kissed deeper. This one was more exploring, Ellana and Max tasting each other. Max and Ellana thrashed against each other, wanting more yet not knowing when to progress. Max moved down to her neck, kissing the side of it, to which Ellana moaned loudly. Growing even bolder, Max started to unstrap her dress, working on the buttons of her shirt. Ellana gasped as she realized what he was doing.

“Am I going too fast?” Max asked, trying to make sure that their first experience would be the best.

“No, no, it’s just I’ve,” Ellana said as she blushed. “I’ve never done this before. So I don’t know how to truly satisfy you, even if I can satisfy you.”

Max smiled and shook his head. “Don’t ever worry about satisfying me. I find satisfaction just being in your presence.” Ellana blushed even more at that.

Before long, Ellana’s entire dress was on the floor, leaving her with her bra and underwear. Max was also stripped, down to his underwear too.

They kissed again, even more ferociously this time, treating this as if they would be laying with each other for the last time.  Ellana fell over, with her on the bottom, and Max on the top.

Max leaned back to admire. Ellana was an elf, so her frame would be skinny. Her tan skin extended to her entire body. She had a tattoo covering her entire front, depicting a giant tree and branches And her mound was dripping. Cascading like a waterfall even.

“Let me worship my goddess,” Max muttered as he went down and started licking her mound. His tongue lapped through her folds, covering every single part of her vagina. He elicited moans from Ellana like never before. As for Ellana, she felt pure bliss. Her mind was completely blank, except for the weird yet pleasurable sensations from Max. She was getting closer, closer, closer, with Max licking that same spot that pushed her over the edge. She didn’t want him to stop. No more Corypheus, no more nightmares, no more anything. She just wanted him and her, on the picnic blanket, with Max pleasuring her forever. However, that bliss wouldn’t last.

“I’m… I’m… Ohhhhhhhhh,” Ellana said as fluid flooded her vagina, driving Max back with a chuckle. Her body crumpled, not being used to these sensations. Max laid back down next to her, and she turned towards him.

“I almost forgot,” Ellana said as she got back up and put her bra and panties on. Then she walked over and brought… a brand new guitar. And an expensive one at that.

“Well… uh…” Max fumbled as Ellana smiled at him. 

“I believe it’s ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’ or some sort. Ring a bell?” she asked as Max furiously nodded.

“It’s just…” Max said as he started moving his arms and hands in random motions, as he would if he didn’t know what to say.

“Now my picnic seems insignificant. I mean, the food was only cooked by me, the cloth not even worth a silver. The only thing was the wine, and we didn’t even have much of it.”

Ellana put a finger on Max’s lip. “Just because something isn’t worth much in money, doesn’t mean it’s the same in a person’s heart. This guitar, it was made by a man who didn’t even know it was for the Inquisitor. He wanted business, and he got it. You however, spent your convincing the cook to let you cook your food, got wine from your own personal collection, and set the location just the way I would like it. You had all the heart and soul in it, which in my opinion, is why yours is worth more than mine.”

Max looked at Ellana with a wide smile on his face and a warm and fuzzy heart. “This is exactly why I love you. You know what to say at the exact right time for someone to cheer up.”

“I know.” She replied as they both lied down again and went to sleep, embraced in each other’s arms.

\------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------------ **Kirkwall**

“ How I wish, how I wish you were here,” Merrill sang, with sorrow in her heart. She still couldn’t believe the fact that Hawke was gone. Too many times Merrill would’ve gone over the void, if it weren’t for Hawke. He was her anchor, and she was hers. 

“We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,” Merrill continued, pouring her heart and soul into playing the guitar. This was the song Max had taught her when he ran away from Ostwick to Kirkwall. The story was that after everything that happened, Max needed to go somewhere. Turns out that he joined the same mercenary group that Hawke was in, and fought together with Bethany. That would be a start to a long-running friendship and brotherhood that Merrill would become comfortably acquainted with. Merrill and Max had become close friends, frequently found in the Hanged Man, just talking about random things. It was Max in fact, who had given Merrill the bravery to walk to Hawke’s house that night and make good on her hopeless crush on the future champion. 

During his residence in Kirkwall, he had taught Merrill how to play the guitar. She was a fast learner, picking up on all the skills required to play. This was a song Max had created, to find a way to vent his grief. Merrill walked in on him playing this, and soon learnt the full extent of his pain.

_ “All of this, you convey in a song?” Merrill asked incredulously. She of all people knew the power of music, the Dalish revering the power of music as much as their Creators. But she had never heard something like this. Something so sorrowful yet beautiful. _

_ “Want me to teach to you?” Max asked, noticing the twinkling in Merrill’s eyes. She quickly nodded, and Max got up to get another guitar he had to give to Merrill.  _

“Kitten,” Isabela said as she entered the room and walked towards Merrill. Isabela had gotten a letter from Varric, stating what happened to Hawke, and with noticeable tear drops on the letter. Everybody had missed him in Kirkwall. Especially Isabela. Hawke had saved her life many times, and she’d never gotten to repay that debt.

Merrill stopped playing, and put her guitar down. She took deep breaths in, and let out deep breaths. It didn’t work.

“He said he would come back. He promised me. My  _ Vhenan _ promised he would come back. Instead, he broke it! Why! Why would you do it?!” Merrill yelled in anguish as she cried into Isabela’s shoulders.   
“I don’t know kitten. I don’t know,” Isabela answered as she leaned onto Merrill’s head, willing herself not to cry. Hawke had that influence on them all. Whenever he was present, the mood would be lifted by a lot, and when he left, it would crash down. Isabela hated seeing Merrill like this. As far as she knew, Hawke was the only one who truly understood everything about Merrill. Her awkwardness. Her knowledge. And in Hawke’s eyes, her stunning beauty.

_ “What makes you love Merrill?” Isabela asked Hawke. This was the day after Hawke and Merrill’s night together. Merrill was the closest thing Isabela had to a friend, hence she was concerned. _

_ Hawke raised his eyebrows in surprise, and looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Her personality. She keeps apologizing to me for being awkward and blubbering all the time, yet that’s the most endearing thing I experience. She just puts a smile to my lips. She makes me happy. After all that happened, she’s the one that made me feel better. Anything ‘awkward’ she says only makes me smile even more.” _

_ Hawke continued as Isabela rested her cheek on her hand. “She’s also extremely smart. I can just talk to her, on and on, about whatever, and she has an answer. In a way, that helps me see clarity when there’s none. She makes me feel sure of myself, confident even.” _

_ “Nothing about her appearance then?” Isabela asked as Hawke started to blush. _

_ “I uhh… I ….” Hawke stammered as Isabel laughed. _

_ “It’s fine. Now I know you truly love her. Take care of her Hawke. She’s one of my only friends. Anything happens to her and it’s your fault, I’ll cut your balls off.” _

_ Hawke raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, ma’am. Now, shall we move on?” _

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

**Commander’s Office**

Cullen was dispatching orders to four scouts. After the successful mess in Orlais, Cullen had to handle the influx of pledges from Orlais for armies, supplies or some sort. The Inquisition also had a lot more money. Cullen would divert this to aid in the Hinterlands and Crestwood, and also some of it to Emprise du Lion. 

*Maker I have so much to do,* he thought as he looked up and saw Grace leaning against the door. He still remembered their kiss on the battlements. The scout had interrupted them, resulting in Cullen yelling at him to go away. Then he kissed Grace, with all of his heart poured in. 

And now, here they were. Comfortable lovers, yet not knowing when to move forward. He thought of it as a delicate dance. One small mistake, and it all falls apart. 

“That’ll be all,” Cullen said as the scouts saluted and left his room. He closed the door, exhaustion permeating his body, and his mind far away. 

“Wishing we were somewhere else?” Grace asked as Cullen laughed.

“I barely found time to get away before,” he responded as he walked back.

“When this war started, I hadn’t thought beyond our survival. But now, things are different.”

“How so?”

Cullen turned around and looked at Grace. Her hair was jet black, and tied in an elaborate bun behind her head. Some was braided in a line down towards her bun, and made her look heavenly. Her lips were pouty red, begging for him to kiss them. She was wearing a tight gown, highlighting her bosoms and behind. Cullen swallowed and thanked the Maker again for Grace.

“I find myself what will happen after. When this is over. I… I don’t want to move on. Not from you.” He replied as he cupped Grace’s face.

He took his hand away and blushed. “I don’t know…. That is if you want to….”

Grace held Cullen’s hands and looked him in the eye. “Cullen, do you really need to ask?”

Cullen smiled. “I guess not.” He replied. Grace leaned back on Cullen’s table, smiling at him lovingly. Suddenly, a bottle toppled over, making Grace gasp.

Cullen looked at his table and sighed with a smile. He knocked everything over, and let Grace lied down on it. Cullen was on top of her, finally making love with her.

*I love you, Grace. With all my heart.* Cullen thought as Grace smiled, as if she could read his mind.

*I love you too,  _ mi leone _ .*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In reality, the song is called "Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd. Beautiful song for a beautiful moment (imo).  
> The guitar is based on a PRS guitar, with birds on the frets, and Paul Reed Smith's signature on the guitar headstock.
> 
> Drop a comment about what I should improve on, or any general feedback. Also drop a comment about any other prompts I should tackle. Other than that, have a great day/night!


	26. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some stuff happening around Skyhold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I made some edits to the work. If you haven't, now you know. The reason why I edited the work was to make it a better read and not a complete eyesore to the eyes. That's the reason why I haven't added a new chapter. But anyways, you're here to read about my fantasy world interpretation, not some note from me. So go ahead, and hope you enjoy!

Both Max and Cullen were late to the war meeting the next day. Max arrived with a cheeky smile that showed everyone why he was late. Cullen arrived a bit later, wearing a serious face and trying to mask whatever happened. 

“So Commander, had a fun night?” Leliana asked as Cullen instantly blushed and Josephine giggled. 

“A night filled with work, as always,” Cullen replied back.

“Different kind of work this time, i assume?” Leliana asked back as Max covered his mouth to stop laughing and Josephine giggled quietly.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Cullen said as Leliana laughed.

“It’s alright. Everybody needs a break, especially. Every night, you stay up to work. Every night, I hear the scratching of a quill whenever I walk past your office. It’s good that you took a break Cullen. You deserved it.”

Cullen nodded with a heavy sigh, silently signalling Max to continue, or really, to start the war meeting.

“Ahem,” Max coughed, catching everybody’s attention. 

“At this moment, Corypheus is in retreat. We’ve stopped him from gaining his demon army at Adamant,” Max said as he pointed at the fortress on the map. “And we’ve stopped him from destabilizing Orlais,” he continued as he pointed towards the Winter Palace. “Now what we need to know is, what’s  he doing next?”

“Perhaps I can use my spies to find out?” Leliana asked.

“That won’t be required,” a voice spoke. Max turned around to see Morrigan walk into the War Room.

“Ever heard of knocking? Very useful, especially these days,” Max asked as Morrigan ignored him. 

“I know what Corypheus wants, and why he’s moving south. He’s looking for an Eluvian. With this Eluvian, he can tear into the Fade and gain his power.”

“What’s an Eluvian?” Max asked.

“Perhaps it would be better if I showed you. Follow me,” Morrigan said as she exited the room, with Max behind her.

They walked to a room in Skyhold that Max didn’t even know existed. Morrigan tore down the covers of something to show a mirror. It was tall, and was made with a craftsmanship he had never seen before. There were two statues standing on either side of the mirror, presumably guarding it.

“This is an Eluvian.”

“What does it do?”

“Perhaps the more appropriate question would be, where does it lead?” Morrigan said as she activated the Eluvian, giving the mirror a blueish hue that made Max dizzy. Morrigan walked through it, with Max following her.

They emerged onto a floating island. It was covered with these Eluvians, with bright sunlight and birds chirping accompanying them. 

“This is what I call the Crossroads,” Morrigan said as she grimaced against the sunlight. “This is like a hub, of sorts, for Eluvians. Long ago, in every elven city, were these eluvians. This is how they travelled. No roads, no horses, just magic. And this is what Corypheus wants.”

“What?” Max asked. “A bunch of mirrors that can take him where? To transport his army?”

“You still don’t get it. Corypheus can use these Eluvians to rip into the fade. That’s how he will get his power.”

“So he’s coming to these… islands for an Eluvian?”

“Not these islands. Right now, we’re in the Fade. Or at least, not in the real world. There is an eluvian in the Temple of Mythal, in the Arbor Wilds. That is what Corypheus wants.”

“I’ve heard tales about the Arbor Wilds. No man can walk out of that place alive, at least not that we’ve seen. Are you sure that’s where Corypheus is going?”

Morrigan gave a firm nod as Max and her exited the Crossroads.

\-------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------------

**Ellana**

Ellana was sitting on a bench in the garden. Admiring the beauty of the flowers around her, she was lost in thought when Max came and sat down next to her.

“I want to ask you something,” Max said as Ellana turned around and faced him.

“If your clan finds out about our relationship, what will they do?”

Ellana thought for a second. “I will be exiled from the clan. For diluting the elven blood. For the cardinal sin of loving a shemlen. I will lose my clan, my history, my identity, everything.”

Max gulped. What could justify losing the life that you know? Being loved by someone and loving them? That was the only thing Max could think of, and even that was weak.

“Why do you ask?” Ellana asked him.

“I know that it’s bad for an elf to love a human, and to have… intimate relations with said human, but I wanted to know what will really happen.”

“Well, now you know. And as I presume, it is bad for humans to love elves too. But it doesn’t seem like people are reacting that badly.”

“That’s what’s bad about humans. These people don’t care that I chose to love you. They think you’re stealing me from one of their daughters, who they want me to marry. But I am the Inquisitor. One good thing about that is that they can’t judge me, because I’m saving their asses every second.”

“Just because I face consequences for who I love, don’t think I’ll stop what’s happening between us.” Ellana said as she caught Max off guard.

“From the bottom of my heart, I love you. You are mine, and I am yours, for the rest of our days.”

Ellana snuggled into Max and laid her head on his chest. 

“This is what makes me whole. Your heartbeat. Your warmth. Your unexplainable yet fragrant smell of pine and earth. The fact that you hold me in your heart. I don’t plan on letting go of any of this ever, no matter what the others think.”

Swallowed with emotion, Max brought Ellana into a kiss, affirming his feelings. That he would never abandon her. That he would love her for the rest of his days. That a few snivelling nobles or elves can’t change these facts.

As they broke the kiss, Ellana hugged Max. “Ar lath ma, ma vhenan,” she whispered in his ear as she got up and left.

\-----------------------------------------------------x--------------------------------------------------------------

**Alistair**

This was it. The ring arrived from Denerim. Beautifully crafted, of course, but he was nervous. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Fuck it up, and he might fuck up their relationship forever. 

*Where should I do it?*

*Aha!* He exclaimed inside as he understood what to do.

\--------------------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------------------

**Lyna**

*What a beautiful night,* Lyna thought as she looked around. She was in the grove, sitting in the gazebo, surrounded by the spring fireflies that gave a soft glow to the landscape. The moon was out, casting a white hue on everything. The stars twinkled like blueberries on a pie. She could see all the constellations in the sky, and she was counting them off one by one when Alistair came into the grove.

“Beautiful night isn’t it?” Alistair asked as he sat down next to her. This was perfect. The stars were out, the landscape and the mood was perfect. It was now or never.

Lyna rested her head on his shoulder, raising Alistair’s nervousness. *Here goes nothing,*

“I remember, the first time we slept together in camp back in Ferelden, the sky was just like this. Dark yet pearly at the same time. You know, I think you can look at my life that way too. There were dark times, but they were nothing compared to the pearly moments. Moments with you.”

Lyna got up from the bench and looked at him. 

“You are the sunlight when darkness invades me.” Alistair said. “You are the stars that light up my life. Without you, I … I  mean … What I’m trying to say that … I uh… I want you in my life. For the rest of time. I want to be with you for the rest of my days. And I can think of no better way to accomplish that than marriage.”

“Lyna Mahariel, love of my life, will you marry me?” Alistair asked as he held out the diamond ring. The gem glistened under the sky as silence and shock permeated their environment. 

“Alistair Theirin, I will marry you and be with you for the rest of my days.” Lyna said as Alistair got up and hugged her in joy. This was perfect. Even if Alistair botched his speech up a little bit, it all paid off in the end. His love with his ring. 

Alistair sighed with content. Mission accomplished.

\------------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------

**Max**

Max was in his quarters, writing letters to the Wardens and the Orlesians to ready up their armies for the trip to the Arbor Wilds. This would be the biggest battle of their lives, and a very dangerous one. Max poured some wax onto the letter after he was done and applied the Inquisitor’s seal, breathing a sigh of relief as he started writing another letter, to 

He suddenly heard a knock. 

“Come in,” he said without looking as Ellana walked inside.

“Ahem,” Ellana coughed as Max looked up, and quickly put all his letters away. 

“Sorry about that,” Max said as they both sat on the couch.    
“Swallowed up with work?” Ellana asked as Max chuckled.

“Coordinating the Orlesians, Grey Wardens and the Inquisition is surprisingly tiring work. I’m just glad that you’re here to keep me company.”   
Ellana smiled. “I was originally here to bring you dinner, but I’ll be here with you.” she said as she handed him his dinner.

“How are your dreams?” Ellana asked as Max sighed. 

“There’s no sign of them going away, but they’re getting less frequent. I get happier dreams now, which I’m very glad about.”   
“Do you want some wine?” Max asked as he grabbed a bottle from his collection and poured a glass.

Ellana nodded as he gave her the glass and poured himself one. 

“Tell me about your family,” Ellana said as Max sat down. “You never talk about them.”

Max sighed again. “What is there to tell? It’s quite complicated. My father is Brandon Trevelyan, the Teryn of Ostwick. My mother is Alexandra Holenhorn, the sister of the King of the Anderfels. I have an elder brother called Robert and you already know about Grace.”

“Robert is a good man who had bad influences. He never stood up to father in fear of his anger. He has good ideals, and is a kind man. He is also meek, and is very shy. My mother is a gentle and kind woman. She was the one that taught me respect, honor, and kindness. She was the person I could lean on for support whenever I needed it. And my father, is a man I have bad memories with. Traumatic and horrible memories.”

Max started shaking as Ellana moved closer to him and hugged him to calm him down. His breathing slowed, and finally went back to normal.   
“Tell me about Caitwyn. She seems like a nice person.” Ellana continued as Max looked at her. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t get jealous. I completely understand that she was one of your dearest friends and lover during dark times.”   
  


“Caitwyn, just like you said, was the light in my darkness. Her dad and she moved to the Trevelyan estate to hunt for us. I first met her when I was 9. I can still remember the moment to this day.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------

_ “Mama, who’s coming?” Max asked his mother as she pointed out the window. _

_ “There is a man named Messere Tabris who is travelling with his daughter here. They are going to be our hunters.” _

_ “Cool! When will they be here?” _

_ “I think that’s them right there.” _

 

_ “My lord,” Cyrion Tabris bowed to Brandon Trevelyan. _

_ “Cyrion! Good that you’re here. I’ll have someone show you your quarters, and you can start tomorrow.” _

_ Cyrion bowed again as Brandon left. Alexandra walked out to greet Cyrion, holding Max’s hand. _

_ “My lady,” Cyrion bowed again as Alexandra smiled. _

_ “We are glad to have you Cyrion.” _

_ “No, the pleasure is mine, my lady. You were the one who offered us this job, which can help feed my daughter. For that, I thank you.” _

_ “Oh it’s nothing. And who is this?” Alexandra asked in wonder as she knelt down in front of Cyrion’s daughter.  _

_ “Say hello, Caitwyn,” Cyrion said as Alexandra smiled. _

_ “Caitwyn? That’s a very pretty name you have. Pretty name for a pretty girl,” Alexandra complimented as Caitwyn blushed.  _

_ “Well, I’ll show you to your quarters. We can let the kids play,” Alexandra said as she and Cyrion walked away. _

_ “What’s your name?” Caitwyn asked as Max held out his hand.  _

_ “My name is Maxwell. But I like to be called Max.” _

_ “Nice to meet you Max. Your mother is very nice.” _ _   
_ _ “Thank you.” _

_ “So, what do we do now?” Caitwyn asked. _

_ “I have a plan. Follow me,” Max said as he held Caitwyn’s hand and started running. _

 

_ They finally stopped as they descended upon a heavenly scene. They were in front of a waterfall, surrounded by a forest. The birds chirping was like music to Max’s ear. The water rumbled down as the sun shone upon them.  _

_ Max sat down, and Caitwyn next to him.  _

_ “Wow, this is beautiful,” Caitwyn said in awe as she looked around. She’d never seen anything like this back in Denerim. She only saw dirty buildings, and smoke rising in the air. Here, it was like a sanctuary. Untouched by human civilization.  _

_ “This is where I usually come to just sit and think. When there’s too much going on, and I need a break.” _

_ “Doesn’t your mother find you?” _

_ Max giggled. “She’s the only other person knows this spot. Well, you know too, but you know what I mean. And she understands my reasons for coming here. So I can sit here for ages and nobody can find me.” _

_ “How about we make this our secret spot?” Caitwyn asked as Max’s face brightened. “Just between you and me.” _

_ “I think I’d like that,” Max said as he locked his pinky with hers, signifying a promise to not reveal this secret.  _

_ “So are you a lord or something like that? Do I have to call you my lord, or anything like that?” Caitwyn asked as Max shook his head violently. _

_ “Please don’t call me my lord. You’re a kid. I’m a kid. That’s adult stuff right there. I don’t want to do anything with that.” _

_ “Alright then,” Caitwyn said. “We should probably go back so that our parents don’t get angry.” _

_ “Good idea,” Max said as he got up and slipped. He slipped on a wet rock, and tumbled into the pool the waterfall made.  _

_ “Aaah!” he screamed as he crashed into the water, sending a wave of water to Caitwyn, splashing her too.  _

_ Caitwyn started laughing as Max made his way out of the pool. “It’s not that funny,” he said as Caitwyn laughed even more. _

_ “Alright maybe it’s a little funny,” Max said as he started to smile.  _

_ “Maybe we should head back for real now,” Caitwyn said as she got up, and slipped. She slid down into the pool and landed right on Max. Caitwyn got up as she observed her drenched clothes. Max got up too, wincing from the impact.  _

_ They both looked at each other, and started laughing. Laughing so hard that they fell back down into the pool again. _

_ Finally, they made their way back out. As they walked back into the castle, dripping wet, Cyrion and Alexandra looked at them in surprise. _

_ “Where have you two been?” Cyrion asked with a smile as he knelt down.  _

_ “We went to a waterfall, and accidentally fell into the water.” Caitwyn said as Cyrion laughed. _

_ “I see you’ve become good friends. Now come on Da’len, we have to go home and get you out of these wet clothes.” he said as Caitwyn quickly turned to Max. _

_ “Are we friends Max?” she asked as Max firmly nodded. _

_ “Of course we are Caitwyn. At least, I hope so.” _

\-------------------------------------------------------------x----------------------------------------------------

“And I was right. We had been friends ever since. To be honest, I don’t know when we progressed from friends to lovers. It just slowly happened until it happened. But yeah, that’s how we met.” 

“That sounds really sweet. A lot sweeter than how we met.” Ellana said as Max chuckled.

“Meeting as a result of parents meeting is a lot better than chasing someone and meeting them. But it all worked out in the end.” 

“I must ask, why did you run away after killing the Templar?”

Ellana laughed. “Every single human organization seems to make its sole goal to harass my people and make sure we don’t live in peace. I didn’t know the Inquisition would be any different, so I left as quickly as possible.”

“Hopefully you can see that we treat everybody the same,” Max said as Ellana nodded. 

“I’ll be heading back now,” Ellana said as Max gave his plate to her.

“Goodnight Ellana,” Max said as Ellana flashed a smile and walked away, leaving him sinking on the couch contently.


End file.
